05-22-2014, 12:06 PM
SHARING IN THE JOY OF JESUS BY OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 15:7-21; JN 15:9-11
http://www.universalis.com/20140522mass.htm
“I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” What is this joy of Jesus that we are invited to share? It is the joy of sharing in the love of the Father, a love that is unconditional, which Jesus describes as the Abba Experience. Secondly, it is the joy of loving us, just as the Father has loved Him. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” This love is of course demonstrated in His passion and death.
Indeed, Peter in the first reading recounted that God’s love is unconditional and without distinction, given to all. Peter addressed his brothers saying “you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers … showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith.”
Truly, this experience of God’s love is one that produces immeasurable joy. For such a love is beyond understanding. Such love is experienced when the Holy Spirit, given to us by Jesus, pours the personal love of God into our hearts. Consequently, we in turn, filled with God’s love, can now do likewise. Hence, Jesus urges us to “remain in his love.”
The next question is how do we remain in the love of Jesus? Jesus said, “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.” Here we are faced with a conundrum because if sharing in the joy of Jesus is a free gift from God, why must we keep the commandments in order for us to remain in His love? Thus, we have to understand the relationship between commandments and love. Are they contradictory?
Observing the commandments in the first place is the demonstration of that love in us. Commandments and rules are necessary in any human institution and religious institution. We need structure for harmonious living. The Church has canon laws, liturgical rules and parishes have structures in order to facilitate communion. Hence, in religious communities there are certain rules for the house, not to make life difficult for the inhabitants but in order that there would be no misunderstanding and overstepping on each other’s privacy and space. So rules are not against charity but for the sake of charity. Indeed, because we love that is why we have rules to help us avoid being insensitive to others. For what is petty to one might be a big inconvenience to another. So for the sake of love, we keep even the minutest rules, so that we can keep everyone happy. Of course, rules are not necessary per se, but because we want to love correctly, they are necessary.
This accounts for the ruling of James at the Jerusalem Council, which appears to run counter to the inspiring exhortation of Peter that they should not impose the Jewish laws on them. Peter had argued, “’It would only provoke God’s anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support. Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus.’ This silenced the whole assembly.” Yet, James, whilst not imposing the Jewish custom of circumcision on the Gentiles, nevertheless insisted, “I rule, then, that instead of making things more difficult for pagans who turn to God, we send them a letter telling them merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has always had his preachers in every town, and is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.’”
Was he then contradicting Peter? Nay, he was simply taking the situation into account. At that point of time, the expedient solution was to alleviate the tense situation by asking both sides to accommodate the sensitivity of each other. So although it was not necessary for the Gentile converts to observe Jewish regulations, since membership in the New People of God was not by circumcision but faith in Jesus Christ, yet charity demands it. Clearly, the observance of the rules was more to accommodate the feelings of the Jewish Christians and not because they infringed Christian Faith.
Secondly, if observing the commandments were the demonstration of love, then conversely, love is the fruit of observing the commandments. For quite often, people, like some catechumens, do not experience the love of the Father in Jesus. But after enrolling themselves into the catechumenate, listening and participating in the talks, sharing and fellowship, they begin to fall in love with Jesus. Similarly, in community living, when we observe the house rules, without of course being too legalistic about it, and when everyone lives harmoniously, we too will come to experience the love of the community. There will be fewer quarrels due to misunderstanding and insensitivity.
However, we have to keep in perspective the true significance of the words of Jesus when He said, “Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” Keeping the commandments is primarily to allow the words of Jesus to live in us. In other words, keeping the commandments is nothing less than sharing in the mind and heart of Jesus. For the commandments that Jesus kept were essentially doing the will of His Father in accordance with His plan. The commandments therefore are not so much regulations but at the heart of it is love.
Indeed, the real problem of love and unity is that we do not love the way Jesus loves. We all claim to love each other, but we love according to our standards and judgment. This will only bring about greater disunity among ourselves since none of us can agree on the meaning and the expressions of love. Even the world interprets love differently from us. That is why they promote euthanasia, divorce, stem cell research, and cloning and same sex union, all in the name of love. But true love must be founded on Jesus who is the only norm of love. So there can be no unity and love if love is not based on Jesus who is the Truth and who reveals to us the true meaning of love.
Understandably then, to keep the commandments is to remain in His love. For the one who shares the mind and heart of God is identified with Jesus and with His Father. Within this context, we can understand why earlier on in the gospel, Jesus spoke of the need to be connected with the Vine. Being in union with the vine is the way by which the Father and the Son come to dwell in us and make their home in us. In this way, we will always be fruitful in love and be pruned further so that the love of God can truly live in us. The result is joy, since joy is being with Jesus, being with others and being one with our real calling.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 15:7-21; JN 15:9-11
http://www.universalis.com/20140522mass.htm
“I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” What is this joy of Jesus that we are invited to share? It is the joy of sharing in the love of the Father, a love that is unconditional, which Jesus describes as the Abba Experience. Secondly, it is the joy of loving us, just as the Father has loved Him. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” This love is of course demonstrated in His passion and death.
Indeed, Peter in the first reading recounted that God’s love is unconditional and without distinction, given to all. Peter addressed his brothers saying “you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers … showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith.”
Truly, this experience of God’s love is one that produces immeasurable joy. For such a love is beyond understanding. Such love is experienced when the Holy Spirit, given to us by Jesus, pours the personal love of God into our hearts. Consequently, we in turn, filled with God’s love, can now do likewise. Hence, Jesus urges us to “remain in his love.”
The next question is how do we remain in the love of Jesus? Jesus said, “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.” Here we are faced with a conundrum because if sharing in the joy of Jesus is a free gift from God, why must we keep the commandments in order for us to remain in His love? Thus, we have to understand the relationship between commandments and love. Are they contradictory?
Observing the commandments in the first place is the demonstration of that love in us. Commandments and rules are necessary in any human institution and religious institution. We need structure for harmonious living. The Church has canon laws, liturgical rules and parishes have structures in order to facilitate communion. Hence, in religious communities there are certain rules for the house, not to make life difficult for the inhabitants but in order that there would be no misunderstanding and overstepping on each other’s privacy and space. So rules are not against charity but for the sake of charity. Indeed, because we love that is why we have rules to help us avoid being insensitive to others. For what is petty to one might be a big inconvenience to another. So for the sake of love, we keep even the minutest rules, so that we can keep everyone happy. Of course, rules are not necessary per se, but because we want to love correctly, they are necessary.
This accounts for the ruling of James at the Jerusalem Council, which appears to run counter to the inspiring exhortation of Peter that they should not impose the Jewish laws on them. Peter had argued, “’It would only provoke God’s anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support. Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus.’ This silenced the whole assembly.” Yet, James, whilst not imposing the Jewish custom of circumcision on the Gentiles, nevertheless insisted, “I rule, then, that instead of making things more difficult for pagans who turn to God, we send them a letter telling them merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has always had his preachers in every town, and is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.’”
Was he then contradicting Peter? Nay, he was simply taking the situation into account. At that point of time, the expedient solution was to alleviate the tense situation by asking both sides to accommodate the sensitivity of each other. So although it was not necessary for the Gentile converts to observe Jewish regulations, since membership in the New People of God was not by circumcision but faith in Jesus Christ, yet charity demands it. Clearly, the observance of the rules was more to accommodate the feelings of the Jewish Christians and not because they infringed Christian Faith.
Secondly, if observing the commandments were the demonstration of love, then conversely, love is the fruit of observing the commandments. For quite often, people, like some catechumens, do not experience the love of the Father in Jesus. But after enrolling themselves into the catechumenate, listening and participating in the talks, sharing and fellowship, they begin to fall in love with Jesus. Similarly, in community living, when we observe the house rules, without of course being too legalistic about it, and when everyone lives harmoniously, we too will come to experience the love of the community. There will be fewer quarrels due to misunderstanding and insensitivity.
However, we have to keep in perspective the true significance of the words of Jesus when He said, “Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” Keeping the commandments is primarily to allow the words of Jesus to live in us. In other words, keeping the commandments is nothing less than sharing in the mind and heart of Jesus. For the commandments that Jesus kept were essentially doing the will of His Father in accordance with His plan. The commandments therefore are not so much regulations but at the heart of it is love.
Indeed, the real problem of love and unity is that we do not love the way Jesus loves. We all claim to love each other, but we love according to our standards and judgment. This will only bring about greater disunity among ourselves since none of us can agree on the meaning and the expressions of love. Even the world interprets love differently from us. That is why they promote euthanasia, divorce, stem cell research, and cloning and same sex union, all in the name of love. But true love must be founded on Jesus who is the only norm of love. So there can be no unity and love if love is not based on Jesus who is the Truth and who reveals to us the true meaning of love.
Understandably then, to keep the commandments is to remain in His love. For the one who shares the mind and heart of God is identified with Jesus and with His Father. Within this context, we can understand why earlier on in the gospel, Jesus spoke of the need to be connected with the Vine. Being in union with the vine is the way by which the Father and the Son come to dwell in us and make their home in us. In this way, we will always be fruitful in love and be pruned further so that the love of God can truly live in us. The result is joy, since joy is being with Jesus, being with others and being one with our real calling.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved