Table of the Word:
First Reading: Acts 15:22-31
Gospel: John 15:12-1
Theme: Love beyond all telling.
Reflection:
In today's Gospel, Jesus gives a simple but profound command: “Love one another as I have loved you.” It is a love that is beyond condition, self-serving, and founded on the platform of partiality, above all sacrificial and freeing. He calls us not servants, but friends (cf. John 15:12-1) In a world marked by victimisation of the vulnerables and those at the edges of our society love beyond walls is needed. Today Jesus presents before us the model of love to be followed, a love that chooses the cross for the sake of others.
To buttress this, the first reading taken from Acts 15:22-3 captures love in action. Here the early Church dealt with division and misunderstanding. Some were burdening Gentile believers with unnecessary laws, and the apostles, moved by the Holy Spirit, choose unity and encouragement over legalism and control. Their letter is one of reassurance, lifting burdens rather than adding to them. “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you…” (Acts 15:28). That’s what Christ-like love looks like in a community: it builds up, and not breaks down.
As we continue through Eastertide experience as "Alleluia people," we are invited to live in the joy of the Resurrection, but that joy must bear fruit in love. Love that forgives. Love that listens. Love that sacrifices. And love that, like the apostles’, seeks peace and freedom for others.
Finally, let us not only speak the language of love, but let us live out the virtue of love even with our enemies.
+ May the Lord bless His words in our hearts both now and forevermore. Amen
© The ARCHIVE 23052025
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