Sixth Sunday of Easter
Remain in my love
Readings: Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48, 1 John 4:7-10, John 15:9-17
[When the Ascension is celebrated on the following Sunday, the Second Reading (1 John 4:11-16) and the Gospel (John 17:11-19) of the Seventh Sunday of Easter may be used today.]
The readings of this Sunday (Sixth Sunday of Easter) invite us to act upon the Love of God in our lives; the love of God, which manifested itself in the person of Jesus. We are invited to embrace this love, by “remaining” or by “abiding” in this love of God.
Last week we reflected upon the Vine and the Branches and the need for us, the branches, to remain with the vine to bear fruit. Today we are continuing that thought and trying to put into action the words of last week; the need for the branch to bear fruit. How can a branch bear fruit? It is by abiding with the vine and using all the nutrients available to bear fruit. What is the nutrient available for us, the branches, when we abide with Christ, the Vine? It is God’s love that has become real in the person of Jesus. How do we know that the process of bearing fruit has begun? It is by following the Word of Jesus and putting it into “action,” it is by making the love of God “act” through us, it is by using the nutrients from the vine and “producing” the good fruit.
Allow me to explain it a bit more elaborately: let us imagine a situation where a couple feels their love has come to a dead end, they feel there is no more love left in their lives, for he or she is not “feeling” that love anymore. And that is the time when the couple needs to realise that love is not just a feeling, but it is “action.” Love is not a noun but a verb. The love they had (the “feeling”) for each other, has to become real (in “action”) in their everyday life. It is not just by saying the magic words, “I Love You,” but by “acting upon” those magic words in real life; it is by being there for each other, it is by caring for the other, it is by appreciating each other and through many other “actions of Love” that show that he/she is “Loving” her/him.
Therefore dear friends, God’s love has to bear fruit through us and that is why today’s Gospel concludes with the words, “What I command you is to love one another” (Jn 15:17).
Having said this, let us not forget that ‘the act of loving one another’ has its own consequences, that is, to imitate the life of Christ in our own lives. Jesus is the model for us to follow these words. We are called to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and bear fruit, as he bore fruit by following the Love of God. It is a challenge, especially in today’s world, where ‘Love’ is seen just as a feeling. Where love is fantasised as something erotic and nothing more than physical. Where love is misunderstood as worldly and cheap. I think it is high time for us, as followers of Christ, to come out of this misunderstanding and show to the world that Love, which is intended by God, is much more than just physical. It is a call to “abide” in God’s love, “experience” it through Jesus and “act upon it” with the help of the Holy Spirit.
As we are coming closer to the feast of the Pentecost, let us pray that we become the true witnesses to the Love of God in our own lives and act upon this Love of God, so that it becomes a verb and not just remain a noun or a blunt feeling.