"This I command you: love one another" (Jn 15:17)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 1:15-17, 20-26
Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters
(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons
in the one place).
He said, “My brothers and sisters,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
Judas was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.
For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.
and:
May another take his office.
Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas,
who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed,
“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all,
show which one of these two you have chosen
to take the place in this apostolic ministry
from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias,
and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John
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.”
FEAST OF SAINT MATTHIAS, APOSTLE - Jn 15:9-17
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
Jesus told His disciples: "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." Jesus left a good example and called His disciples to imitate and become like Him. That is being faithful to God the Father, and obeying God the Father's teachings :
- By Sacrificing our own lives to love others;
- To Know how to put aside our selfish egos to bring love to humanity;
- To remain in God's love, allow Him to give us more strength;
- Unite with Him as Jesus united with God the Father to become one. It is a unity that brings power to defeat satan and to regain love for souls. And to be happy with God the Father, the disciples should follow the example of how Jesus Christ obeys God the Father and live according to it.
It is God who chooses and calls His disciples to follow Him. God chooses whomever He wants, and the vocation God gives to each person is different. Once God has chosen and called, He will send us forth to bear many fruits which are souls. But in order to bear much fruit, we must become conformed to Christ, which means sacrificing our own lives to save souls, just as Christ sacrificed Himself and died, hanging on the cross, to bear all human sins. And now, to bring love to souls, the disciples chosen by God are called to walk on the path of sacrifice and love as Jesus Christ walked. That is the way to carry our cross and follow Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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