John 15:9-11

Acts 15:7-21

Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10

John 15:9-11

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.” 

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you for the gift of the New Covenant. You send the Holy Spirit into my heart so that I may remain in the covenant and abide in your love. Dwell in me and fill my soul with your grace, enlighten my intellect with your wisdom, and strengthen my will with your charity.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Abiding in the Father’s Love: During the Last Supper, Jesus introduces his disciples into the deep mystery of Trinitarian love and the New Covenant. The first line in today’s Gospel speaks about the eternal love between the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit, Jesus will reveal, is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. The Spirit is the one who draws us into this Trinitarian communion of love, which is the ultimate purpose of the Church’s mission. Jesus teaches his disciples that, as the Son of God, he keeps the Father's commandments and abides in the Father’s love. Jesus was empowered by the Spirit in his Passion to conform perfectly to the will of the Father and to maintain his solidarity with us even to the point of death (Hebrews 9:12-14). Through his death, Jesus becomes the mediator of the New Covenant, having intervened for the redemption of the transgressions and violations of the law of the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15). In like manner, we abide in Jesus’ love by keeping his commandments. We too are empowered by the Spirit to love God and our neighbor.

2. Covenant Responsibility and Joy: Jesus’ exhortation to keep the Father’s commandments is a part of the ratification of the New Covenant. Just as God gave the old Law to the people of Israel as their covenant responsibility and they accepted it (Exodus 24:3-4), so Jesus now gives the New Law to his disciples and they welcome it. Jesus tells them that if they keep and are faithful to the commandments of the New Covenant, they will remain in God’s love. One of the difficulties of the Old Covenant was the inability of the people of Israel to keep it. By contrast, in the New Covenant, we are enabled by the grace of the Holy Spirit to keep the New Law, the new commandment of love. This New Covenant can never be broken, since it has been forged by the blood of the Son, who was faithful to the end. One of the fruits of the New Covenant and of abiding in Jesus is joy. This joy is the joy of Jesus himself: “a joy sought and found in obedience to the Father and in the gift of self to others” (John Paul II, July 25, 2002). Paul teaches that joy, love, and peace are all fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The Holy Spirit infuses into our hearts the same joy that Jesus had, “the joy of faithfulness to the love which comes from the Father” (John Paul II, June 19, 1991).

3. Joy During the Debates at the Council of Jerusalem: According to the First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, the joy of Christ lasted even when the disciples endured trials. The early followers of Jesus were known to rejoice even under persecution. We can suppose that true Christian joy lasted throughout the Council of Jerusalem (in A.D. 49). The Council’s debates, discussions, and discernment all took place in the context of prayer and Christian charity. The Apostles and elders (presbyters) of the Church earnestly sought the will of God and sought to understand the signs and wonders God worked through them among the Gentiles. At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter affirmed that both Jews and Gentiles receive the gift of salvation through faith and the grace of Christ, and not through circumcision and the burdensome yoke of the Old Law. To demand that the Gentile believers submit to the sign of circumcision and the Old Law would mean putting God to the test (like the Israelites in the desert) and would only place a yoke of burden on the Gentiles. James the Lesser (the son of Alpheus and brother of the Lord) agrees with Peter: “We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God.” But James also teaches that, in accord with the Law (Leviticus 17:8-18:30), the Gentile believers should refrain from three things: eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods; sexual immorality; and meat with blood in it or meat from animals not properly drained of blood. James is concerned that if the Gentile believers did such things this would destroy the communion and table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. James quotes the prophet Amos who foretells of the day when God would rebuild the fallen hut of David. As a descendant of David, Jesus accomplished this restoration and rebuilt the hut of David. What is more, this restoration signals the day when all the Gentile nations will seek the Lord and be welcomed into his people. The Gentile believers are welcomed not with the burden of the Old Law, which was powerless to save, but with the grace and love of Jesus Christ, which does save.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are my savior. You have rescued me from the slavery of sin and the scourge of death. Strengthen me today to abide in you and keep your commandment to love. Pour out your Spirit so that I may enjoy true and lasting joy as I journey toward the eternal joy of heaven.

Living the Word of God: Do I see the fruits of the Holy Spirit in my life? Where is there joy, love, and peace? Am I able to discern when something is from God and manifests the fruits of the Spirit and when something is not from God and manifests the fruits of the devil?