Jesus said to his disciples, “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.”
Similar to the Our Father, when Jesus says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” In both of these, Jesus models what a loving relationship should be. Just as the Father loves him and he loves us, that love is the pattern for loving each other.
A reporter answers the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a story. Jesus answers who (the Father and the Son), what (“remaining in my love”), why (“so that your joy might be complete”), and how (“if you keep my commandments”). This is pretty straightforward, and there is no mistaking how to remain in love—stated three times—with the Father and the Son. Thank you, God, for the clarity of the words of your Son.
Your love, God, is an all-embracing love. It is not false in any way; it is not as society can construe all-embracing love, which brings all to a center that cannot hold when it permits all. To love you, Father, calls for obedience to your holy will, to do what is pleasing to you, and to bring others to a center that can hold because that center is truth in the person of Christ.
The Gospel acclamation for today’s reading is “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” To remain in Jesus’ love today, let me remember to hear his voice while I’m busy or resting. Whether today brings a greater balance of trials than joy, I have no idea. But let me remember why Jesus asks that I keep his commandments: so that my joy might be complete.