Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Ps. 98:1-4; 1 Jn. 4:7-10; Jn. 15:9-17
“This I command you: love one another”, says the Lord. Our gospel today is a continuation from last week with a common theme to remain in Jesus by following his commandments. This is the proof that we remain in God and God in us by the greatest commandment not only by our love of God but when we love one another. Love of the unseen God is bound with the love of one another who we do see. This love will bear fruit, lasting fruit that remains “so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he many give you” says Jesus.
There are many who say “I believe in God. I am a Christian” Having faith is only the beginning of our relationship with God. Jesus asked Peter “Do you love me” three times and then he commanded him to demonstrate his love by caring for others. Love of God is active participation in the salvation of souls. The Mass is an act of love by our active participation with our prayers, hymns, intentions, and offerings. Love one another is active participation bringing our family to church, making sure our children receive their sacraments, becoming a community of faith that participates in spiritual and corporal works of mercy. To love is to receive life from God just as death is to refuse to love.
God is love. The God of creation brought us mercy, redemption, and salvation through Jesus his son as an expiation for our sin. God’s love is always active for our greater good but we also must know how to ask rightly from the Father. Often when we pray, we focus on what are our needs, wants, hopes and desires. We begin with the love of “I” and not the love of God. Let our prayer begin with the love of God by asking and trusting that his will be done. He knows the desire of our hearts and we can express all those desires in the right context of our surrender to the will of God. Recall how Abraham was put to his greatest test of faith and love called to offer up his son. Abraham trusted in God and remained obedient to his will and God proved him to be a righteous man. Abraham also a human being bore lasting fruit that remains to this day.
Today we see in the first reading Peter who is given homage by Cornelius but Peter raises him up declaring he is also a human being and treats him as a brother. There is a lesson here that we are all called to be servants of the Lord even as we are all given different authority in the service of his church. Peter is given authority in the person of Jesus while we are to reflect the image of Jesus as human beings. As a family our authority rests in the domestic church at home. The apostles were given authority to lead the faithful as a magisterium of the Church.
Peter preaches in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit descents upon all present, Jew and Gentile, baptized and unbaptized, circumcised and uncircumcised something to ponder. The heart that is ready to receive the Lord will not be denied the love of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out onto everyone including the unbaptized. Peter recognized the mystery of faith at work and called for everyone who received the Holy Spirit to be baptized. He acted not by the law of division but the law of love for unity of one another. We must remain open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit calling us to unity and love of one another.
This is not what we see in the news every day, where division, hatred, persecution and even violence is waged on the streets of cities, college campuses, and on borders of nations. You cannot have an act be racist against one race of people and not be racist against another race. You cannot call an act as persecution against one group of people but declare it to be justified “equity” when it is returned back to those people. As the common expression says, “two wrongs don’t make it right”. Two wrongs make for endless hate carried on from generation to generation. It is time to bring an end to this cycle of hate or it will bring an end to us. History has demonstrated this reality in the rise and fall of neighborhoods, cities, and nations. Mass migration is often a people in flight from persecution and in search of greater freedom. Love one another!
Love one another is not easy. People are not easy to accept much less to love. When a couple gets married the early years are a struggle to accept each other as we are. We often assume that the other will change “if they love us”. This philosophy doesn’t work and it takes a few years to come to realize we can’t change anyone. The vows to love in good times and in bad should also include to love “as is” with all our good qualities and bad faults and pray that God is not done with us yet.
We say we love God and his people but when we come to church, we avoid “those people”, those we know because of politics, those that have misbehaved children, those that like to sing loud but can’t sing well, and well those “other” people that look different, dress different, or whatever other things we think of them. The nature of the flesh is not to love one another. The spirit of love for another is a gift that we must seek because it will always require some form of sacrifice. The flesh is not open to sacrifice. We must unite our will to the will of the Father and be ready to respond to act in love of one another for the greater good. Easier said than done. Jesus recognizes his own who recognize him with love of one another.
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