Word to the Wise
Thursday, May 22, 2014 - 5th Week of Easter - Thurs
[Acts 15:7-21 and John 15:9-11]"As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love."
Sometimes in an exhibit of works by a great artist, there will be "studies" prepared as part of the creative process. These are genuine examples of the artist's skill and become quite valuable in their own right even though they are only preliminary sketches of a small part of a larger work. Today's gospel passage is somewhat like that. The commandment of love will be more fully developed in tomorrow's passage, but today's prepares us in a way for it.
Nevertheless, there are at least two things that should be familiar to us. The first is that everything starts with Jesus' relationship to his Father. The disciples learn that Jesus loves them just as his Father loves him. This is no mere abstraction, as we will learn tomorrow. In our own contemplation of this fundamental spiritual reality, can we claim any experience of that love? What is it like?
The second familiar thing is the command to "remain in my love." I spoke about that word, "remain," yesterday. It means more than "staying behind." It means being there on a "steady basis." It carries with it a commitment to "keep my commandments." There is more to it that will come tomorrow. We can be sure that Jesus' love is not a capricious thing as we humans would do when we say, "As long as you do what I want you to do, I will love you." God's love contains God's mercy as well. AMEN