Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
We are the people who live in Christ’s love: by dying he has destroyed our death, by rising he has restored our life, and we look for him to come in glory. So now let us celebrate his presence among us.
Gospel: Jn 15:9-17
Set at the heart of the Last Supper discourse, this passage restates, yet again, the new commandment of love, and establishes the nature of the bond between those celebrating the Eucharist in Johannine communities: they can be seen as friends of the Word. The intimacy implied in friendship in the ancient world is something that is lost on us today, but it was used to describe the highest level of human intimacy. We remember something a person said to us or allowed to happen to us. They would be saying something like: I am suffering this for you now and I am doing it so that you too can be of service to others when your turn comes. When the person told us this, it made a very deep impression on us. Ever afterwards we would always return to it and remember what it meant to us. We know that we can now suffer for others because this other person suffered with us. They were helping us to lift others and because of that, we now know what we must go through so that others will feel safe with us. We think of that as we bring up our children and all those whom the Lord has entrusted to our care.
Introduction to the Celebration
We are the people who live in Christ’s love: by dying he has destroyed our death, by rising he has restored our life, and we look for him to come in glory. So now let us celebrate his presence among us.
Gospel: Jn 15:9-17
Set at the heart of the Last Supper discourse, this passage restates, yet again, the new commandment of love, and establishes the nature of the bond between those celebrating the Eucharist in Johannine communities: they can be seen as friends of the Word. The intimacy implied in friendship in the ancient world is something that is lost on us today, but it was used to describe the highest level of human intimacy. We remember something a person said to us or allowed to happen to us. They would be saying something like: I am suffering this for you now and I am doing it so that you too can be of service to others when your turn comes. When the person told us this, it made a very deep impression on us. Ever afterwards we would always return to it and remember what it meant to us. We know that we can now suffer for others because this other person suffered with us. They were helping us to lift others and because of that, we now know what we must go through so that others will feel safe with us. We think of that as we bring up our children and all those whom the Lord has entrusted to our care.
Fr. Tony Kadavil's Collection:
