A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
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. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”
The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel call to mind the Lord’s Prayer, which he prayed with his disciples: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Just as Jesus remains in his Father’s love by doing his will, Jesus invites the disciples to remain in his love, as he says, “so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.” How will I have in today’s works, joys, and sufferings the opportunity to remain in the Lord’s love?
As he does in praying the Our Father with the disciples, Jesus invites me to be the Father’s adopted son. Father in heaven, your only-begotten Son loves me in the same way you love him—as one of your own. As the Gospel acclamation says, “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” Lord, you take the initiative in your love for me, and you yourself are the source of the grace I need to remain in you and follow where you lead. As Saint Teresa of Calcutta said, “Anything may come: impatience, failures, joy, but say to yourself, ‘The Father loves me.’ God has created the whole world, but He is our Father.”
Jesus, you say to me: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” Help me today with the initiative of your love so that I can remain in you.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.