Gospel
Jn 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
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.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

Reflections

A young boy who knew that his little sister was dying was asked if he would like to donate his bone marrow for a transplant to his sister. His parents carefully explained that he would be making a sacrifice so that his sister could recover and live. After a long silence, the boy agreed, but he seemed to be very frightened and apprehensive about the procedure. After a sample of his marrow had been removed, he calmly asked his parents, “Now that I have given away my bone marrow, how long will it be before I die?” The child had been under the mistaken assumption that he would be giving up his own life for that of his sister. As they reassured him he would not die, the parents marveled at the profound sacrifice their son had agreed to make for his sister.

In the gospel today Jesus said: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” One distinctive quality of Christian love is the ability to sacrifice or get hurt for the other. The early Christians did not miss the lesson. Indeed, many of the early Christians were ready to sacrifice their lives for their faith, even at the expense of being fed to the lions. Some of them were beheaded, tortured and martyred because of their faith in Jesus.

But dramatic moments like laying down one’s life for another or for one’s faith do not come often in life. In fact, we rarely find zealous people nowadays who are confronted with this kind of heroic choice. However, life abounds with small sacrifices that can make a difference. Far more frequent are the day-to-day demands of love like being kind to your neighbor, sharing one’s time, effort, even money for one who is in need. To take the time to listen to a friend or neighbor who is having a difficulty with his marriage, or personal life; to show concern to the sick, the poor, the marginalized in society by one’s prayers or financial aid, etc. Yes, these may not be “big” acts of love in the eyes of man, but I am sure any good acts that we do, whether big or small, are equally important in the eyes of God.

Somebody once said that any good act that we make, when it’s done with love, is always big in the eyes of God. But true love is costly. A true lover gives the best he can offer and is willing to sacrifice everything he has for the beloved. That is how God loved us. He sacrificed his only Son for us. That’s the nature of true love and friendship. Today Jesus wants to tell us tht he is our friend and that he loves us wholeheartedly and without reserve. Accordingly, he wants us also to love one another just as he loves us.