Jessel Pradeep Cutinha csc
Readings: 1 Jn 3: 11-21; Jn 1: 43-51
Loving God and one another involves believing in and trusting God’s providence. We can experience God’s love in our lives every day by expressing love toward one another. The first reading of the day emphasizes the significance of loving one another. Our love should manifest not merely through words or sympathetic feelings but through tangible actions. It is a call to express love through deeds and truth. Encountering Jesus in our lives allows us to experience the love of God.
Today’s Gospel narrates the encounter between Jesus and Nathanael. While initially Nathanael struggled to see Jesus as the embodiment of love, encountering the transformative power of Jesus allowed him to intimately understand and know Jesus. The moment Nathanael recognized Jesus as the Son of God; he became a disciple of Jesus.
Being a disciple of Jesus means following and loving him and his creation. To love one another is to bring transformative impact to the lives of others. This impact can be created by encountering Jesus in our lives. Encountering Jesus intimately means knowing, loving, and recognizing his divinity, which brings transformation to our lives and enables us to transform the lives of others.
In the backdrop of verses like Jn 17:3 and 20:17 coming from Jesus himself it remains a debatable issue.