Daily Gospel Reflection for May 18, 2017

Today's Gospel: John 15:9-11

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love…”

For all who have been there, falling in love is the most overwhelming experience. It’s disarming, gets us off-balance, changes us in ways we never may have expected.

Falling in love is one thing; staying in love is something else. Our madly in love-ness wanes over time through the day-to-day of human life. We can look back on it and remember it, but it may feel far away and we may not be able to get back there and experience it again.

The beauty of the Incarnation is that Jesus came into human life and experienced it first-hand. Jesus experienced the day-to-day life we do, even though it may have been a very different time and place. In His humanness and through the day-to-day life Jesus experienced, He recognized the way through it all was by keeping His Father’s commandments. That was how He could remain in relationship with His Father and stay in that place of complete joy. If we ask ourselves what this would look like in our lives, today, all we need do is go to Jesus giving us two commandments; loving God and loving each other. Being in relationship with His Father is how Jesus navigated His difficult life and that is how we can also navigate the difficulties we encounter in our often-crazy world.

Remember that overwhelming feeling of being in love? It turned us upside down, didn’t it? And Jesus’ love, through us, toward others, can turn our world upside down! If we can grow in relationship with God, each day, and look lovingly at those around us, we cannot escape Jesus’ love!

[Tweet "Jesus’ love, through us, toward others, can turn our world upside down! By @hgainan"]

Ponder:

How were we changed when we fell in love and experienced that love of someone else? Did it change us? Is it still changing us?

Pray:

Jesus, you came into the world to show us how to do it; living the Father’s commandment to lead a life of selfless service to others. That is your Father’s commandment to us, too. Please help us to daily follow you in love...

I am a mom of three grown up, wonderful kids. I've worked in the blind rehabilitation field for so long that, if Jesus hadn't healed the blind man in scripture, I would have been around to teach him braille! Please visit my blog, The (Almost) Daily Heidi-gram.