First reading Acts 15:22-31
It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by us not to burden you beyond these essentials
The apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:
‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’
The party left and went down to Antioch, where they summoned the whole community and delivered the letter. The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.
Responsorial Psalm 56(57):8-12
I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.
or
Alleluia!
My heart is ready, O God,
my heart is ready.
I will sing, I will sing your praise.
Awake, my soul,
awake, lyre and harp,
I will awake the dawn.
I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples,
among the nations I will praise you
for your love reaches to the heavens
and your truth to the skies.
O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!
Gospel John 15:12-17
What I command you is to love one another
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘This is my commandment:
love one another,
as I have loved you.
A man can have no greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends,
if you do what I command you.
I shall not call you servants any more,
because a servant does not know
his master’s business;
I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me:
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
and then the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
What I command you is to love one another.’
______________________________________
Love one another
Jesus calls us to love one another as He loves us. This is not a heavy
burden that Jesus places on us but an invitation to journey towards
having a mature and total love of Jesus. Thus, we need to keep going
back to Jesus’ infinite love for us and listen again as He calls us, “You
are my friends”. The more we experience Jesus’ love, the more we are
able to love the concrete people that Jesus places in our paths each day.
burden that Jesus places on us but an invitation to journey towards
having a mature and total love of Jesus. Thus, we need to keep going
back to Jesus’ infinite love for us and listen again as He calls us, “You
are my friends”. The more we experience Jesus’ love, the more we are
able to love the concrete people that Jesus places in our paths each day.
Therefore, this is good news for us! Jesus will never make us do
something impossible for us to do. When we remain in Jesus, His love
something impossible for us to do. When we remain in Jesus, His love
will flow from us to others. Today, let us make the loving choice to love
others, even those who we do not like.
others, even those who we do not like.
Question for reflection:
How can I love those whom I do not like?
How can I love those whom I do not like?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
