We must show our love for Christ.

Tuesday, 1/27/15

The readings today deal with endearing ourselves to Christ by keeping his commandments. In the Gospel he said, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” And, in Chapter Fifteen of John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”

Is it just me, or do you too sometimes worry about not really loving Jesus the way you should? Does he ever seem centuries back in time for you? Do you ever feel left out of it when you hear people singing, “Jesus, my Jesus, you are my Lord?”

If you suffer from a lack of warm feelings for Jesus it might help you to recall that St. Paul almost never spoke about Jesus in his lifetime. He spoke only of the risen Jesus, whom he always referred to as “Christ.” “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

Hold on to this belief: that when you speak to Christ in the quiet of  your heart, he hears; and he answers you by making you recall something he said in the Gospels.

We could show our love for God the way Jesus did in the first reading, when he said, “A body you prepared for me. Behold, I come to do our will, O God.” God doesn’t seem to need any gushy displays of sentimental love.