“Creation is an act of love and it is perpetual. At each moment our existence is God’s love for us.” Simone Weil
The Lesson Plan 15A Friendship with Jesus requires love and respect for his commands MAY 10, 2012
he Lord tells us this Sunday that he is love, and that we are to remain in his love. Yet, what it means to love is frequently misunderstood in today’s world. At a Catholic university, I recently witnessed a group of students rallying in support of the right of homosexual persons to marry. The students carried a banner that said “Our Religion is Love.” The implication was that Catholic teaching regarding the immorality of homosexual acts is not loving. Yet, Catholics Deacon believe we are followSteven Jones ing the ultimate law of love, received from God the Father. Today’s Scriptures teach us what it means to love, authentically, in a Christian sense. Jesus tells us that we are his friends now, not merely his servants. This friendship with God means we must know him and understand his desires for us. It also means that we retain a fear of acting against his wishes. After all, to encounter God is to know the author of life, the creator of the universe, our creator, and ultimately our moral judge. When we experience him, we know love himself, and we never wish to offend his tender and infinite heart
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Reflections on faith and spirituality
Readings Sunday, May 13 Sixth Sunday of Easter ■ Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 ■ 1 John 4:7-10 ■ John 15:9-17
For reflection How have you offended God by your behavior and how have you reconciled your friendship?
Sunday Scriptures
of love. In the Scriptures and teachings of his church, God tells what kinds of behaviors please him and which are against his heart. If we don’t know God’s Word, we are tempted to define love on our own terms.
Many redefining ‘love’ Many today are saying, in essence, “We have created our own definition of love, and it does not include what God has re-
Daily Scriptures Sunday, May 13 Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 1 John 4:7-10 John 15:9-17
Sunday, May 20 Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:17-23 Mark 16:15-20
Monday, May 14 Matthias, apostle Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 John 15:9-17
Monday, May 21 Christopher Magallanes, priest, and companions, martyrs Acts 19:1-8 John 16:29-33
Tuesday, May 15 Isidore Acts 16:22-34 John 16:5-11
Tuesday, May 22 Rita of Cascia, religious Acts 20:17-27 John 17:1-11a
Wednesday, May 16 Acts 17:15, 22 —18:1 John 16:12-15
Wednesday, May 23 Acts 20:28-38 John 17:11b-19
Thursday, May 17 Acts 18:1-8 John 16:16-20 (Editor’s note: Ascension of the Lord, which was traditionally celebrated on Thursday, has been permanently transferred to the seventh Sunday of Easter in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to allow parishioners to celebrate this special day together.) Friday, May 18 John I, pope and martyr Acts 18:9-18 John 16:20-23 Saturday, May 19 Acts 18:23-28 John 16:23b-28
Thursday, May 24 Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 John 17:20-26 Friday, May 25 Bede the Venerable, priest and doctor of the church; Gregory VII, pope; or Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, virgin Acts 25:13b-21 John 21:15-19 Saturday, May 26 Philip Neri, priest Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 John 21:20-25 Sunday, May 13 Pentecost Acts 2:1-11 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 John 20:19-23
vealed.” So, in our example, our protesting students, although well-intended, have excluded God from their calculus of what it means to love. God wants us to respect his desires by knowing him and following his wishes. Jesus says in our Gospel acclamation (John 14:23): “If a man loves me, he will keep my Word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.” He says in our Gospel, “If you keep my
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10). We know from these statements that the love of God cannot be separated from his precepts because he is the supreme authority and he is love itself. Thus, for Christ, authentic love always respects God the Father’s wishes. Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you. . . . I have told you everything I have heard from my father” (John 15:14-15). Sinful behaviors do offend God’s heart, and he has told us through his Word what is sinful. We must respect this if we wish to authentically love. At the same time, God does love unconditionally since he continues to love us and desire our salvation no matter how we have behaved. He loves all sinners and wants us to repent and return to him. Yes, the Catholic religion is love, authentic love, the love of God, himself, which flows through us, to the world and back to him. We love and follow God and his commands because we are his friends now, and not merely servants. Deacon Steven Jones is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D. His home parish is St. Paschal Baylon in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and his teaching parish is St. Peter in Mendota.
Closeness to God gives strength to withstand anything Catholic News Service The church’s first martyr found the strength to face his accusers because of his close relationship with God, Pope Benedict XVI said. St. Stephen, who was accused of blasphemy and stoned to death, upheld the faith and gave witness to Christ as the righteous one proclaimed by the prophets, the pope said during the general audience in St. Peter’s Square May 2. Continuing his catechesis on Christian prayer, the pope focused on St. Stephen, who was “accused of saying that Jesus would destroy the temple and the customs handed down by Moses.” The saint told his accusers the body of Jesus is the new temple of God; it is in Jesus that God and humanity are in true contact, which makes real communion with God and transformation possible, the pope said. God does not dwell in places made by human hands; the “new true temple where God dwells is in his son,” who gathers and unites all people in the sacrament of his body and blood, the pope said about St. Stephen’s teaching. Today’s Christians can draw inspiration from St. Stephen, who found strength during his martyrdom in his relationship with God and by meditating on the history of salvation. In Christ, people can make real contact with God “with the trust and abandon of children who turn to a father who loves them infinitely,” the pope said. An altar-server from the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, had the privilege of meeting Pope Benedict after the audience. Armando Sanchez, 17, came to Rome thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Sanchez has been a cancer patient for 16 years and has multiple tumors in his heart, brain and optical tracts, according to The Valley Catholic, newspaper of the Brownsville diocese. “When they told me that I had this opportunity to go wherever I wanted and meet whomever I wanted, I did think about celebrities, but I said no,” he said.
From the Vatican