Daily Gospel Reflection May 16th 2020
Gospel JN 15:18-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
Dear Friends and
Family,
How often have we looked around and
wondered why is this life so hard? We
try to do the right thing and we are ignored, despised, rejected by
others. Jesus clarifies the realities of
the world we live in. “If the world
hates you, realize that it hated me first.”
These are not comforting words.
We long to be loved and cherished, respected and honored by those around
us and Jesus tells us we will be hated.
The heart of the issue lies in the question, “Who are we living for; who
are we trying to develop a lasting relationship with?” The world is fickle. One minute the world
loves you and the next it hates you. One
would constantly be remaking themselves to remain in the good favor of the
shifting passions of world around them.
Our God offers us a way through such a chaotic existence.
Jesus tells us, “You do not belong
to the world.” Let that sink in for a
moment. This world is not our home. We are designed by God, chosen by God to live
with him in heaven. We begin our journey
home in this foreign land, living our lives by standards that confuse the
world. That confusion breeds hatred and
rejection. By our Baptism we are called
into a community of faith; to be priest, prophet and king. So we stand apart, a living example of our
homeland. Representing our God and
inviting others to consider a different life, a life with purpose, guided by commandments
that liberate us. Some will know our
love and will join us; others will reject our love and despise us. We are called to love anyway, this is the
model of Jesus, the example all Christian are invited to follow. When the
rejections start to get us down, look around and realize, we do not stand
alone. There are people of faith,
citizens of the Kingdom yet to come, that are living in exile right next to
us. We gather every Sunday and we share
the food of our native land. We are comforted
and strengthened by our families stories proclaimed in the Word and by the meal
that we share in the Eucharistic feast.
We are then called to go forth and show the world a better place, a
better way to live. This journey, this life, is hard and it may get even harder;
it’s a good thing we don’t really live here.
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