Gospel Reading
Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him."
Jn 14:15-21
Gospel Reflection
Praised be Jesus Christ!
There are many aspects to the Catholic Faith. For two thousand years, many authors have spent volumes unpacking the beauty that is the Catholic Faith. Yet, in the short excerpt from the Gospel we hear during the liturgy today, Jesus sums up the whole of Christian life: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
Keeping the commandments is important for many reasons, but the most important reason to do so is out of love. The commandments are there for us to show us the path of love.
There are many critics of the Church who say that the Church is too focused on rules. Yes, there are rules in the Church, but they are present to form us in love. Once we fully understand the love of Christ, keeping the commandments is a natural response, because we only want to do what He wants out of love for Him.
Today, let us root ourselves in the love of Christ so that, as we continue in the Christian life, we may show the love of Christ to everyone whom we encounter.
On this Mother's Day, we gratefully remember our living and deceased mothers. We give thanks to God for them for they gave us life. May Our Blessed Mother wrap our mothers in her protective mantle of love! As always, know of my prayers before Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+Bishop Schlert
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