Nameswar Baliar Singh csc –
Readings: Acts 15:7-21; Jn 15:9-11
The word of God reminds us of three things, “love, joy, and obedience”. Though Jesus was born as a human being, he was obedient to the word of God. Therefore, he could experience the love of God. He experienced joy within himself because he was completely attached to his father.
As a Catholic, we need to be rooted in God’s love, to be obedient to God’s commandments, because in God we can find joy and experience the love of Christ. We may like to give commands to people to do things the right way. We may want to control them in different ways, but we do not see our own mistakes. Due to our ignorance, we think that we are always right and forget what is wrong with us. We may have no peace, joy, and love within us because we do not want to enjoy the love of our neighbors.
Through the gospel, Jesus tells us that joy must come from within and this joy must be from him and not from the outside world. In order to find joy within us, we need to sacrifice certain bad habits, egoism, demands, selfishness, anger, hatred, and pride. Because these unwanted things block us from loving others and finding meaning in life.
In the gospel, we see that the obedience of Jesus towards his Father is perfect, and his joy is full. Today, Jesus is demanding us to obey him wholeheartedly. Our love towards others must be genuine so that we may experience God’s love in us. It is an invitation for us to look into our lives and change our hearts so that we may experience the love of God in our daily activities.