For this Sunday, we read a gospel passage (Jn 15:9-17) that combines the ones we heard Thursday and Friday.  Recall that here, Jesus expresses His love for us as He is loved by the Father.  We remain in that love by keeping the commandments.  He goes on to speak of the greatest love as being that in which one dies for a friend.  We remain in His friendship by doing as He commands; we know His commands because He has told us everything the Father has told Him to convey.  Jesus chose the apostles to “bear fruit that will remain” (v. 16) by loving one another. That Jesus calls His apostles (and us) friends should be very moving to us.  We are not slaves who are compelled to do what the master demands.  Rather, we are in a much more intimate union in which Jesus invites us, but doesn’t force us, to be close to Him.  Yet He knows what is best, spending a three year public ministry extolling just those things that will make us whole and complete.  His life is culminated by torture and death, but He leaves us alone only for a few house before He resurrects.  Now we never need be alone again.  However many or few friends we may have on earth, and however they treat us, we always have a true friend who is always there and will never abandon us.  Pour out yourself to Him and He will help you in any situation or difficulty.  Comforting indeed.

Yesterday’s short reading gave us the next four verses in John 15 (18-21).  Starting with the words above, Jesus tells His apostles that the world will hate them because they are His chosen ones.  They will be hated and persecuted as the Master was.  We normally do not like at all the idea of being hated, much less persecuted.  In our dealings in a secular world that seems to becoming more and more anti-religious it can take real courage to stand by one’s religious and moral convictions.  But do so we must as we want to be faithful followers of Christ.  Indifference should not be one of our traits (the Lord to the Laodiceans: “because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” [Rev 3:16] ).  But being faithful does not mean that we are act in an aggressive, accusatory, or “in your face” way.  Rather, our words should be well-considered and our tone even.  To help us do this, prayer and study are required.  Asking the Spirit to “teach you at that moment what you should say” (Lk 12:12) and beseeching the Lord to “give you a wisdom in speaking” (Lk 21:15) are absolutely necessary.  But we are also to understand the hot button issues of the day, know the Church’s stance on the various matters, and be able to present them firmly, gently, and matter-of-factly.  Then we leave it up to the Lord.  Maybe others will be unmoved immediately, and maybe we will be spurned, ridiculed, or worse, but with the power of conviction the Lord will certainly use us to move hearts and minds.  Stay strong.

Continuing on (Jn 15:12-17), Jesus addresses His apostles with the words above.  He goes on to speak of the greatest love as being that in which one dies for a friend.  We remain in His friendship by doing as He commands; we know His commands because He has told us everything the Father has told Him to convey.  Jesus chose the apostles to “bear fruit that will remain” (v. 16) by loving one another.  Now, this commandment is very difficult for us.  Christ’s love for each person is infinite and never wavers regardless of what we do to spurn Him or other persons.  He always welcomes the sinner and desires to pour out His mercy on us.  The only way we don’t get this forgiveness and mercy is by rejecting and parting ways with Him.  Can we say that we have this same attitude towards our fellow man and ourselves (learning to forgive oneself and believing in and accepting God’s mercy is sometimes the most difficult task)?  Do we show love when rejected, spurned, or devastated by a friend or grievously hurt by a foe?  This is very difficult, and most people will understand or even promote an attitude of anger or vengefulness.  But the stories that make headlines are ones of radical forgiveness and love under the most horrible circumstances.  The Greatest Story Ever Told is the primary one, in which the torture and killing of God is responded to with love and mercy (“Father, forgive them…” [Lk 23:34]) .  It is in this Book that we receive the commandment (not suggestion) to love.  Only in this way can we stay in Christ’s friendship.  With friends like that we don’t have enemies.

Today’s very short gospel passage (Jn 15:9-11) picks up where we left off yesterday as we systematically work through this chapter.  Here, Jesus expresses His love for us as He is loved by the Father.  We remain in that love by keeping the commandments.  Jesus closes with the line above.  Complete joy is a wonderful thought, isn’t it?  All of us can recall certain times, maybe a great conversation with a friend, an intimate moment with a spouse, a beautiful nature scene, or some other wonderful event, when we wished that that moment of seemingly perfect bliss would never end.  But, alas, it does.  Our joys in this life are fleeting.  But Jesus promises us a joy that is permeating and unending.  While we are not promised joy on a natural level (Jesus Himself has rightly been called “a man of sorrows”), we can strive to always have an inner joy and the hope of eternal happiness of which no external circumstance can deprive us.  How comforting a thought when our personal lives are in disarray and the world seems to be turned upside down.  We recently heard Jesus’ promise of peace.  Now we have the key to joy: loving the Word and keeping His word.  Let us never stop contemplating divine revelation and praying for the graces to love as He loves.

The gospel passage heard today (Jn 15:1-8) is the same one that was presented on Sunday.  Recall that in it Jesus compares himself to a grapevine with us as branches.  Branches that bear no fruit are cut away by the Father.  In order to bear fruit Jesus says that one must abide in Him so that He can abide in us.  If we don’t do so, we wither and are tossed into the fire.  Then He ends by reemphasizing His point in today’s passage that we glorify the Father by bearing fruit as Jesus’ disciples.  But even those who do bear fruit suffer pain along the way, as made clear by Jesus’ words in the headline.  It is not easy losing pieces of oneself.  But the Lord knows what is best and, for the one who wishes to be a true disciple, He will cut away the dross that keeps us from fully embracing His words and mission.  What sin do we cling to, what habit can’t we shake, or what distraction do we allow ourselves that keeps us from fully giving ourselves to the Lord?  Better that we work and pray to eliminate it ourselves than to have to wait to hit “rock bottom” through hurting or losing loved ones, damaging ourselves, or causing public scandal before turning our lives around.  But even if it comes to the worst, Jesus can use us to further His kingdom when we finally are put in a position of humiliation that disposes us to put Him in charge and acknowledge the Truth that is Him.

Picking up where we left off yesterday, we now finish off chapter 14 (Jn 14:27-31a).  Jesus finishes His discourse by giving the apostles His peace, reiterating that they should not be troubled or afraid, and saying again that He is going to the Father.  Giving an inkling of His forthcoming suffering, He concludes with the words at top followed by His acknowledgement that what is about to happen to Him is due to His love of the Father and His desire to follow the Father’s commands.  Would it be that we fully recognize the “ruler of the world,” the devil, in all his disguises and temptations.  And, more importantly, confidently say that he does not have power over us.  Jesus experienced severe temptations so He understands the lure of the Evil One.  But He gives us the graces to fend off Satan if we are open to receiving them.  Frequent reception of the sacraments is the ordinary, and surest, way to obtain the graces we need to live our lives in accordance with Jesus’ teaching as found in the Church.  We should pray that we better draw on the baptismal and confirmation graces we’ve received while firmly resolving to overcome our most troubling and repetitive sins and vices in confession, making us disposed to receive Holy Communion and as open as possible to the infinite graces that come with it.  Married and ordained have special graces that come with these vows to help them in their vocation — easy to forget, particularly in times of turmoil when they are needed, and should be called upon, most.  In all cases, we should be comforted by the fact that God is on our side and has the power and desire to help us, particularly during our most difficult and challenging times.  Remember the Lord’s promise to Paul (and us) that, no matter how bad it seems to get, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

Today we skip forward a few verses from Saturday’s reading to look at Jn 14:21-26.  Jesus tells the apostles that the true measure of love of Him is the keeping of His commandments which come from the Father.  Only in this way will Jesus reveal Himself to us.  Jesus closes with the words above to hearten the remaining eleven apostles (Judas had already left to start the betrayal in motion) that they will come to recall all His teachings so that they could keep them and pass them on.  We are truly fortunate that this guarantee of the Holy Spirit was given to the first bishops of the Church in that upper room.  When we speak of the Church as holy and apostolic, we trace that back to the Last Supper.  These men were granted the charism of infallibility through the Holy Spirit as it relates to matters of doctrine that Christ taught.  The Eleven (and later Matthias whose feast we celebrate in a few days) faithfully handed those teachings down to their successors who did likewise, and so on, through the centuries until the present day.  Someone once said, “It’s such a relief, such a freedom, to be in a church that one doesn’t have to create for oneself.  It’s there.  It’s given.”  We are the beneficiaries of this fact.  There is no need to wonder where the truth lies.  It is in the Church that Truth established and with which He promised to be always (cf. Mt 28:20).  We, too, should ask for an outpouring of the Spirit on ourselves so we are better able to understand the Lord’s teachings, as safeguarded by His Church, and to follow them perfectly.  An important thought to keep with us, especially as we anticipate Pentecost, which marks the end of the Easter season, in less that two weeks.

For this Sunday reading we move ahead to the beginning of the next chapter (Jn 15:1-8 — we will be hearing this passage again later this week).  Here Jesus compares himself to a grapevine with us as branches.  Branches that bear no fruit are cut away by the Father.  In order to bear fruit Jesus says that one must abide in Him so that He can abide in us.  If we don’t do so, we wither and are tossed into the fire.  Then He ends by reemphasizing His point in today’s passage with the words at top.  As Christians we should seek to glorify God.  Jesus gives us the way to do so: by bearing much fruit as disciples of Him.  True disciples follow the master, listening to him closely, learning his ways, seeking to imitate him, working on overcoming errors, and showing unfailing loyalty to him.  This not only happens in direct interaction with the master, but is also to be carried forth into our dealings with others.  When we show love, compassion, generosity, joy, and patience in all things others will naturally want to know from where that peace comes.  Then we can follow up sharing the message of the Master in the way we conduct our lives with the very words of that same Master.  Let us begin each day vowing to bear much fruit for the Lord and end each day evaluating how much has been produced through us.

As it happens, yesterday’s reading (Jn 14:7-14) was nearly the same as Thursday’s reading (because of the feast day).  Remember that in this passage Philip says that the apostles want to see the Father and Jesus responds that He and the Father are in each other and that the works the Son has done are from the Father.  Believers in Jesus are promised to do even greater works and that their prayers will surely be answered.  For this post let us focus on Philip’s words (at top) specifically.  Philip has been with Jesus throughout His public ministry, but wants even more: some other indication of Jesus’ power and authority.  While seemingly disappointed in Philip for not recognizing the works of God in all that he has heard and seen, Jesus does not get upset.  He simply reinforces what Philip and all His followers should have picked up already: that He is the way to the Father and that what He does is from the Father.  Isn’t this the way it is with us sometimes?  As many blessings as we have received, we still would like some overt sign of Jesus’ working in our lives  (“Just do this, or show me that, and I’ll believe”).  Sometimes this is granted in a supernatural way.  But if it is not, and our faith is tested, this should not be considered a bad thing, but rather an exercise to make us stronger in trust.  We are blessed, though, that in a special way, through the eyes of faith, we do see the Son, and thus the Father, in the Holy Eucharist.  If we are ever tempted to ask the question Philip asked, simply find an adoration chapel, or any open church, and there we can see Jesus, be with Jesus, in a special way.  Here we can cry, like the father of the demoniac, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24) and it will be granted.

The gospel for Friday (Jn 14:1-6) happened to be the lead-up to Thursday’s gospel since we had a special feast day celebration that day.   Jesus tells the apostles here during the Last Supper (in John this episode runs from chapters thirteen through seventeen) that He will be preparing places for them in the Father’s house and will be back to take them there.  When Thomas asks Him where He is going and the way there, Jesus says that He Himself is the way, the truth, and the life.  This extremely consoling discourse begins with the words in the headline.  Jesus had just finished telling of His betrayal (after which Judas left to do his dastardly deed) soon followed up by his foretelling of Peter’s three-fold denial.  So the apostles were very much in need of these timely and consoling words.  And we are in need of them as well.  What troubles us today?  Anxiety over matters out of our control?  Physical suffering we have endured for a long time?  Spiritual dryness that makes God feel far away or maybe non-existent?  Jesus wants us to focus each day on our ultimate goal: union with the Trinity in heaven.  What are we doing in these few moments of our lives (in relation to eternity) to gain this place prepared for us?  Jesus gives us the key: Himself.  He is the way, the truth, the life.  Learn the way, obey the truth, so as to gain life eternal.