Thursday 06/05/2021 Eastertide Week 5 - Jn 15,9-11
Aware of the Father’s love, Jesus wanted to share his love with others, with us, since love has to be shared. One of the hardest challenges God faced was the failure of people to acknowledge his love for them. Eventually God chose a people to help others discover how much God loved them. Even this failed. So, rather than talk about love God decided to send us the greatest expression of his love, Jesus. We make direct contact with this divine love in the eucharist through the gift of Jesus’ body and blood.
In the Easter season we celebrate with thanks and joy this gift of love in Jesus and sing the praise and glory of God. However, people would not know of this love unless someone told them. In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how rapidly the message of God’s love for us spread. Yet there is still the question of the millions of people who have never heard of Jesus Christ and the abundant love of God for them. In his wisdom God gave them a bible that fully expressed his love, the bible of creation which reinforces and makes concrete everything that is written in scripture. God shows us his love through his Son Jesus and through creation. Those who work close to nature experience this divine love. History shows that those who rejected God eventually lost everything; it led to their self-destruction. Because of our misuse and abuse of creation we, too, are heading for self-destruction and annihilation. Jesus offers you love in the eucharist, let him also offer you his love through his creation and be saved from annihilation!
Pope Francis: I exhort everyone to see the world through the eyes of God the Creator: the earth is an environment to be safeguarded, a garden to be cultivated. The relationship of humanity with nature must not be conducted with greed, manipulation and exploitation, it must conserve the divine harmony that exists between creatures and creation with respect and care, so it can be put to the service of our brothers and sisters of future generations.
The story of Adam and Eve was carefully explained in the children's Sunday School class. Following the story, the children were asked to draw a picture to illustrate the story. Little Bobby, who loved the story, drew a picture of a car with three people in it. There was a man in the front behind the wheel and a man and a woman in the back. Intrigued the teacher asked little Bobby to explain his picture.
Bobby promptly replied, "Well, this is God driving Adam and Eve out of the garden!"
By Fr Thomas O'BRIEN a.a
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