GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John
Jn 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father.”

They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!”
So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

The word of the Lord

What the beloved does.

We do what our Father does only when we truly love Him. We believe and trust in Jesus Christ only when we truly love Him and love the Father. The Father has chosen to love me as much as His Son. I am an adopted Son, but an adopted son is loved as much as a natural son, and we can respond to our adoptive Father by loving him as much as His natural Son loves him. So, let us truly love the Father as children and do what He does.

Applied to Married Life:

Ricardo: What are you praying for, Martha?

Martha: Well, look, Richard, I ask the Father to let me recognise all His Love.

Ricardo: And why do you want to recognise His Love?

Martha: To love you better!

Richard: That sounds like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood: To devour you better…!

Martha: Hahaha. How silly you are.

Ricardo: But what does one have to do with the other?

Marta: Well… by recognising the Father’s love, I will love Him more, and by loving Him more, I will want what He wants, and He wants me to love you.

Ricardo: Phew, you want it all. Hahaha. But I understand. Thank you for wanting to love me more.

 

Mother,

We love the Father, but we want to love Him more, even to the point of doing what He does. Praise be forever.