Word to the Wise
Friday, May 12, 2023 - 5th Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 15:22-31 and John 15:12-17]"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....It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain....[John]
I once had a small flannel pennant with the character, Linus, from the cartoon, Peanuts, pictured on it and the words, "I love humanity. It's people I hate!" Unfortunately, this is how many people interpret Jesus' words in today's gospel passage. His command to love one another as he has loved us becomes a kind of benevolent non-committal regard for others. "Getting along with others" becomes the maximum goal! Laying down one's life for someone? Well, that depends...... Jesus' command is in danger of being "what if?" -ed to death.
If nothing else, Jesus' words today can serve as the basis for an honest examination of conscience. Whom do I love and how do I love them? Another, perhaps more "nitty-gritty", way of asking the same questions is: "Whom do I forgive? And how do I forgive them?" Jesus' words and commands are a call to look long and hard at our relationships and the way we treat others, no matter who they are. Our friendship with Jesus is a good place to start, but the "fruit that will remain" is how we love one another. AMEN