Gospel: Jn 15:12-17
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JESUS said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: Love one another.”
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This command of Jesus is as simple as it is demanding. “As I love you” challenges the disciples to imitate their master. To act in behalf of Jesus requires of the followers to penetrate the mind and the heart of Jesus. When Jesus chooses his disciples, he intimates that the mysteries of the Kingdom of God are revealed to them while these are given to others in parables.
To enter the circle of Jesus’ close friendship, the disciples have to understand the meaning behind his words and actions; they will then preach and act in his name. And Jesus will give them authority and power to intercede in his name: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” The disciples must act always in the context of emulative love, not servile obligation.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
