Commandments and Love

Commandment and Love.

9 As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. 10 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.
11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.-John15:9-11

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." To love is to keep the commandments. To keep the commandments is to love. Commandments and love cannot be separated. Commandments are all about love - loving God and one's neighbor. To love God and one's neighbor is to keep the commandments. I watched a TV series about a very-much married man falling in love with another woman. Later, the man left his family for his mistress. Though they know their sin before God, yet they justify their action by saying, "We did not sin. We only love." Though I champion love, I cannot tolerate a love that rooted from infidelity and unfaithfulness. Jesus is inviting us all to love - love God and to love our neighbor. Yes, there are temptations and 'tests' which challenge our love, faithfulness and fidelity. But we have a choice. We are gifted with a conscience that tells us if sin disguises itself in love.

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Vine and Branches

Bear much fruit!

1 [a]“I am the true vine,[b] and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes[c] so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 6 [d]Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.-John15:1-8

Such a beautiful reading. It is totally true that without Jesus, we can do nothing. Some atheists would challenge this though. For them, we are naturally endowed with gifts and talents. Thus, we can do things on our own. But then, one would wonder - where exactly did we get the gifts and talents? How come we have these gifts, but it is not given to the rest of the animals? I have experienced being stripped of everything. Yes, I really have nothing, everything is gone. As I started picking myself again, and as I filled up an application form, I realized how nothing I am. No matter how excellent my answers are or how brilliant I am, if it is not the will of God, I cannot push through at all or go anywhere. Thus, I can say, we need Jesus in our life. Without Him, we are totally lost, and we cannot bear fruit at all. It is only through Jesus that great things can happen to us.

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A Kind of Peace

The peace of Jesus.

27 Peace[a] I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28 [b]You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. 30 I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world[c] is coming. He has no power over me, 31 but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.-John14:27-31

Some people say that peace is the absence of war. Well, Jesus lived at the time when His country is conquered by the Romans. Yet, Jesus gave His followers 'Peace.' Can one live and feel in peace in the middle of war and oppression? "Not as the world gives do I give it to you." Jesus' peace is not the same as the peace that the world gives. What kind of peace? The peace that comes from the confidence and faith that Jesus is with us and has never abandoned us. This peace gives hope and courage. This peace makes one rise up and try again. This peace lets go and forgives.

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Jesus reveals Himself

Jesus reveals Himself to those who love Him.

21 Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” 22 Judas, not the Iscariot,[a] said to him, “Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you this while I am with you. 26 The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.-John14:21-26

So many people claim that they cannot see God nor can they relate to Jesus. They say, "It happened a long time ago." or "Religion is outdated in our modern world." or even question "Can it be true?" Today, Jesus has answer to them, "And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." To see Jesus, one must love Him. Love means believing. There are many ways to know Jesus such as - one must open one's mind to the Scriptures, one must open one's heart to Love, and one must be open to grace.

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Transcendence

Jesus will never leave us.

7 If you know me, then you will also know my Father.[a] From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,[b] and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. 12 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.-John14:7-14

There are people who say that religion is outdated. Some people say, "Why do you still want to believe on something or Someone that existed a long time ago? Can it really be true?" As for me, I believe in Jesus and/or His works. If it is difficult to believe in His person, then "believe because of the works themselves." The problem with many of us is that we want everything to be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted. Well, there are things that go beyond the limits of nature and the universe - and that is Faith, Hope and Love.

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Pruning

God prunes us that we many grow more.

1 [a]“I am the true vine,[b] and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes[c] so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 6 [d]Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.-John15:1-8

As I reflected, I asked myself if God truly takes or cuts away a branch - that is, reject us. If it is so, that will be contrary to His image as a Father and a Good Shepherd. I do believe that God never rejects, rather He prunes and prunes and prunes. Nobody is too slow to be overlooked. Nobody bears too little to be rejected. Nobody just suddenly stops bearing fruit or stops doing good. Remember, we are born good right from the start. God prunes us so that virtues will come out, or the good in us will come out. However, since pruning means cutting, sometimes we are pained along the way. Today, Jesus is encouraging us to not be afraid because He means well if He prunes us. When He prunes us, it is expected that we will bear much much fruit - and these fruits will make our lives more fulfilling, beautiful and enriching.

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A trifle thing

Much is lost because of their lack of faith.

54 [a]He came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished[b] and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? 55 Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” 58 And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.-Matthew13:54-58

As I reflected on the gospel reading, I was saddened in some way by Jesus' town mates. Because they knew Him, they couldn't believe that Jesus can be greater. For them, Jesus will always be a carpenter just like His father, the boy next door, the man across the street, anything except a great Man. Sometimes we are like that too. We cannot believe that somebody so little before can be great today. Perhaps it is because of jealousy? Or perhaps our ego was hurt by other's success? Jesus is teaching us how much grace is lost when one gives in to jealousy. Let us then be free of it! Let us rejoice when our neighbors receive much blessings!