May 15, 2017

Gospel: Jn 14:21-26
Jesus said to his disciples: ”Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and show myself clearly to him.”
Judas—not Judas Iscariot—asked Jesus, ”Lord, how can it be that you will show yourself clearly to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, ”If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and live with him. But if anyone does not love me, he will not keep my words; and these words that you hear are not mine, but the Father‘s who sent me.
”I told you all this while I am still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.”

REFLECTION:
Obedience, although not always a sure indicator, is a response of love. It manifests outwardly our desire to please the beloved. Thus Jesus uses the criteria of keeping His commandments in knowing who loves Him or not. But experience tells us that obedience per se is not enough. The reasons behind the obedience are more important than the act itself. For obedience can come from a fearful heart. It can be coerced and demanded. It can also be given under protest.
And so Jesus made it clear that an obedient loving heart is where He and the Father find residence. It is a transformed heart worthy as an abode of the divinity. Hence a transformation in one‘s life accompanies once loving obedience to God. The person is slowly being divinized. The Spirit is understood. That transformed person is at ease with all things divine, so much so that listening and getting instructions from the Spirit is nothing but a normal chore. And this kind of person will never forget the word of the Lord. He or she will always be reminded by the Paraclete, the Divine Helper that comes from above.