In this Sunday’s Gospel passage (Jn 15:9-17) after having compared himself to the vine and us to the branches, Jesus, explains what fruit is borne by those who remain united to him: this fruit is love. He again repeats the key-verb: abide. He invites us to abide in his love so that his joy may be in us and our joy may be full (vv. 9-11). To abide in Jesus’ love.
Let us ask ourselves: what is this love in which Jesus tells us to abide to have his joy? What is this love? It is the love that originates in the Father, because “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). This love of God, of the Father, flows like a river in his Son Jesus and through him comes to us, his creatures. Indeed, he says: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (Jn 15:9). The love Jesus gives us is the same with which the Father loves him: pure unconditional love, freely given love. It cannot be bought, it is free. By giving it to us, Jesus treats us like friends — with this love —, letting us know the Father; and he involves us in his same mission for the life of the world.
And then, we can ask ourselves the question, how do we abide in this love? Jesus says: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (v. 10). Jesus summarized his commandments in a single one, this: “that you love one another as I have loved you” (v. 12). To love as Jesus Christ means to offer yourself in service, at the service of your brothers and sisters, as he did in washing the feet of the disciples. It also means going outside of ourselves, detaching ourselves from our own human certainties, from earthly comforts, in order to open ourselves up to others, especially those in greater need. It means making ourselves available, as we are and with what we have. This means to love not in word but in deeds.
To love like Christ means saying ‘no’ to other ‘loves’ that the world offers us: love of money — those who love money do not love as Jesus loves —, love of success, of vanity, of power… These deceptive paths of “love” distance us from the Lord’s love and lead us to become more and more selfish, narcissistic and overbearing. And being overbearing leads to a degeneration of love, to the abuse of others, to making our loved ones suffer. I am thinking of the unhealthy love that turns into violence — and how many women are victims of violence these days. This is not love. To love as the Lord loves us means to appreciate the people beside us, to respect their freedom, to love them as they are, not as we want them to be; as they are, gratuitously. Ultimately, Jesus asks us to abide in his love, to dwell in his love, not in our ideas, not in our own self-worship. Those who dwell in self-worship live in the mirror: always looking at themselves. He asks us to overcome the ambition to control and manage others. Not controlling, serving them. Opening our heart to others, this is love, to be trusting, giving ourselves to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, where does this abiding in the Lord’s love lead? Where does it lead us? Jesus told us: “That my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (v. 11). And the Lord wants that the joy he possesses, because he is in complete communion with the Father, also be in us insofar as we are united to him. The joy of knowing we are loved by God despite our infidelities enables us to face the trials of life confidently, makes us live through crises so as to emerge from them better. Our being true witnesses consists in living this joy, because joy is the distinctive sign of a true Christian. True Christians are not sad; they always have that joy inside, even in difficult moments.
May the Virgin Mary help us to abide in Jesus’ love and to grow in love for everyone, witnessing to the joy of the Risen Lord.
FAUSTI - We are dizzily taken up in the Love of the Father and the Son, sharers in the Trinitarian Life. We are called to dwell in His Love for us , which is the same that the Father has for Him and for us. This is our true home, where we can live and rediscover our identity as sons and brothers. The one love between the Father and the Son circulates in us and makes us stay in the Son as the Son in the Father. "You will remain in my Love" Jesus makes it clear that, in order to remain in His Love, it is necessary not only that His Words remain in us, but also that we observe His commands. These commands, which cause us to walk as He walked, are actually one command. As His Word is one and multiple, so His commandments are multiple and one: it is the command of Love that moves and orders all our actions. Whoever does not love does not dwell in Love. We can love because He was the first to love us; we can observe His command because He has observed the command of the Father, Who has sent Him to witness His Love for us. Jesus is the first man who dwells in the Love of the Father; He is the Son who fulfills His will because He loves His brothers. We too dwell in Him, in His Love, if we love each other as He has loved us. In order to dwell in His Love, we must observe His commands which are reduced to One: brotherly love, which is halved until it is mutual. The Love that Jesus showed us on the Cross is the source of our love towards others: one can love if and as one is loved. As Jesus dwelt in the Love of the Father by loving his brothers and sisters, so we dwell in His Love as Son by doing the same. The command to love God becomes a command to love man. In fact, love for God and love for man are a single reality, just as the Son's love for the Father and for us is the same as the Father's love for the Son and for us. Love is One; it is God. And it places everyone in communion. Jesus is always and in any case our friend. In our turn, we too are His friends, if we respond to His love by doing as He did. I no longer call you servants": "Servant" is an honorific title. Servants of the king are the great ones of the court, servants of God are the prophets and the righteous. The servant executes the will of his Lord, but with a relationship of subjection, not of equality. Jesus does not want us to be servants, but friends, equal to Him. In fact, we are not subjects of the Law, but we live in the freedom of beloved children. If Moses gave us the Law, from the fullness of the Word become flesh, we receive grace upon grace; the grace of the truth of the Son, which brings us into communion with the Father. Origin of the choice is His free love for us . "The Lord has bound Himself to you and chosen you, not because you are more numerous than all the other peoples-you are in fact the smallest of all peoples-but because the Lord loves you" (Deut. 7:7). We have been chosen not to be servants, but friends of God, united to Him in the one Love. Our vocation is sure, because it is "His", it is He who chooses us and calls us. And His choice is irrevocable, resistant to betrayal and denial. We are not speaking here of the choice of the twelve and of their being sent on mission, but of the present and future disciples, who must go where Jesus Himself went: towards the fullness of the Father's Love, loving their brothers and sisters to the point of laying down their lives in their service. This is the much fruit that glorifies the Father. It is that "much fruit" which the Son Himself will bear when, by giving His life for His brothers and sisters, He will draw all to Himself. This is the fundamental mission of the Church, the salt of the earth, the light of the world (Mt 5:13), and the fragrance of Christ for all (2:14). and the fragrance of Christ for all (2 Cor 2:14). Seeing how the disciples live, all find what they desire in their hearts: the beauty of the Love that saves the world.
->The mission is not advertising, but the radiance of mutual love, which attracts everyone to itself. That God whom no one has ever seen, we have seen in the face of the Son, who said: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father". The others see Him in our face of brothers. This fruit makes us dwell in the Son and in the Father as it makes the Son and the Father dwell in us. If we are in the Son we know that the Father always listens to us as He listens to Him. This is why we ask Him for everything we need to live as children. This is what we ask of the Father in the name of the Son: His own love for our brothers and sisters. Beyond this love there is nothing, except still Love, which is infinite. For "God is Love", and "He who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16).
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaREGINA CAELI 9 May 2021
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Buongiorno!
In this Sunday’s Gospel passage (Jn 15:9-17) after having compared himself to the vine and us to the branches, Jesus, explains what fruit is borne by those who remain united to him: this fruit is love. He again repeats the key-verb: abide. He invites us to abide in his love so that his joy may be in us and our joy may be full (vv. 9-11). To abide in Jesus’ love.
Let us ask ourselves: what is this love in which Jesus tells us to abide to have his joy? What is this love? It is the love that originates in the Father, because “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). This love of God, of the Father, flows like a river in his Son Jesus and through him comes to us, his creatures. Indeed, he says: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (Jn 15:9). The love Jesus gives us is the same with which the Father loves him: pure unconditional love, freely given love. It cannot be bought, it is free. By giving it to us, Jesus treats us like friends — with this love —, letting us know the Father; and he involves us in his same mission for the life of the world.
And then, we can ask ourselves the question, how do we abide in this love? Jesus says: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (v. 10). Jesus summarized his commandments in a single one, this: “that you love one another as I have loved you” (v. 12). To love as Jesus Christ means to offer yourself in service, at the service of your brothers and sisters, as he did in washing the feet of the disciples. It also means going outside of ourselves, detaching ourselves from our own human certainties, from earthly comforts, in order to open ourselves up to others, especially those in greater need. It means making ourselves available, as we are and with what we have. This means to love not in word but in deeds.
To love like Christ means saying ‘no’ to other ‘loves’ that the world offers us: love of money — those who love money do not love as Jesus loves —, love of success, of vanity, of power… These deceptive paths of “love” distance us from the Lord’s love and lead us to become more and more selfish, narcissistic and overbearing. And being overbearing leads to a degeneration of love, to the abuse of others, to making our loved ones suffer. I am thinking of the unhealthy love that turns into violence — and how many women are victims of violence these days. This is not love. To love as the Lord loves us means to appreciate the people beside us, to respect their freedom, to love them as they are, not as we want them to be; as they are, gratuitously. Ultimately, Jesus asks us to abide in his love, to dwell in his love, not in our ideas, not in our own self-worship. Those who dwell in self-worship live in the mirror: always looking at themselves. He asks us to overcome the ambition to control and manage others. Not controlling, serving them. Opening our heart to others, this is love, to be trusting, giving ourselves to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, where does this abiding in the Lord’s love lead? Where does it lead us? Jesus told us: “That my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (v. 11). And the Lord wants that the joy he possesses, because he is in complete communion with the Father, also be in us insofar as we are united to him. The joy of knowing we are loved by God despite our infidelities enables us to face the trials of life confidently, makes us live through crises so as to emerge from them better. Our being true witnesses consists in living this joy, because joy is the distinctive sign of a true Christian. True Christians are not sad; they always have that joy inside, even in difficult moments.
May the Virgin Mary help us to abide in Jesus’ love and to grow in love for everyone, witnessing to the joy of the Risen Lord.
FAUSTI - We are dizzily taken up in the Love of the Father and the Son,
RispondiEliminasharers in the Trinitarian Life.
We are called to dwell in His Love for us ,
which is the same that the Father has for Him and for us.
This is our true home, where we can live and rediscover our identity as sons and brothers.
The one love between the Father and the Son circulates in us and makes us stay in the Son as the Son in the Father.
"You will remain in my Love" Jesus makes it clear that, in order to remain in His Love, it is necessary not only that His Words remain in us, but also that we observe His commands.
These commands, which cause us to walk as He walked, are actually one command.
As His Word is one and multiple, so His commandments are multiple and one: it is the command of Love that moves and orders all our actions.
Whoever does not love does not dwell in Love. We can love because He was the first to love us; we can observe His command because He has observed the command of the Father, Who has sent Him to witness His Love for us.
Jesus is the first man who dwells in the Love of the Father; He is the Son who fulfills His will because He loves His brothers.
We too dwell in Him, in His Love, if we love each other as He has loved us.
In order to dwell in His Love, we must observe His commands which are reduced to
One: brotherly love, which is halved until it is mutual.
The Love that Jesus showed us on the Cross is the source of our love towards others: one can love if and as one is loved.
As Jesus dwelt in the Love of the Father by loving his brothers and sisters, so we dwell in His Love as Son by doing the same.
The command to love God becomes a command to love man. In fact, love for God and love for man are a single reality, just as the Son's love for the Father and for us is the same as the Father's love for the Son and for us.
Love is One; it is God. And it places everyone in communion. Jesus is always and in any case our friend.
In our turn, we too are His friends, if we respond to His love by doing as He did. I no longer call you servants": "Servant" is an honorific title.
Servants of the king are the great ones of the court, servants of God are the prophets and the righteous.
The servant executes the will of his Lord, but with a relationship of subjection, not of equality.
Jesus does not want us to be servants, but friends, equal to Him.
In fact, we are not subjects of the Law, but we live in the freedom of beloved children.
If Moses gave us the Law, from the fullness of the Word become flesh, we receive grace upon grace;
the grace of the truth of the Son, which brings us into communion with the Father. Origin of the choice is His free love for us . "The Lord has bound Himself to you and chosen you, not because you are more numerous than all the other peoples-you are in fact the smallest of all peoples-but because the Lord loves you" (Deut. 7:7).
We have been chosen not to be servants, but friends of God, united to Him in the one Love.
Our vocation is sure, because it is "His", it is He who chooses us and calls us.
And His choice is irrevocable, resistant to betrayal and denial.
We are not speaking here of the choice of the twelve and of their being sent on mission, but of the present and future disciples, who must go where Jesus Himself went: towards the fullness of the Father's Love, loving their brothers and sisters to the point of laying down their lives in their service.
This is the much fruit that glorifies the Father.
It is that "much fruit" which the Son Himself will bear when, by giving His life for His brothers and sisters,
He will draw all to Himself.
This is the fundamental mission of the Church, the salt of the earth, the light of the world (Mt 5:13), and the fragrance of Christ for all (2:14).
and the fragrance of Christ for all (2 Cor 2:14).
Seeing how the disciples live, all find what they desire in their hearts:
the beauty of the Love that saves the world.
->The mission is not advertising, but the radiance of mutual love, which attracts everyone to itself.
EliminaThat God whom no one has ever seen, we have seen in the face of the Son, who said: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father". The others see Him in our face of brothers.
This fruit makes us dwell in the Son and in the Father as it makes the Son and the Father dwell in us.
If we are in the Son we know that the Father always listens to us as He listens to Him. This is why we ask Him for everything we need to live as children.
This is what we ask of the Father in the name of the Son: His own love for our brothers and sisters.
Beyond this love there is nothing, except still Love, which is infinite.
For "God is Love", and "He who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16).