“Your religion is not what you do on Sunday. It is how you live Monday through Saturday.”

Man has made 32 million laws since the Commandments were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai... but he has never improved on God's law. - Cecil B. DeMille: (1881 –1959: was an American filmmaker)

Gospel Text: (JN 15:9-17)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.

Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you

and your joy might be complete.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,

to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

I no longer call you slaves,

because a slave does not know what his master is doing.

I have called you friends,

because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you

and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,

so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

This I command you: love one another.”

While He tells us that following His commandments and loving others is the way to remain in His love, why did He need to emphasize to us that we need to remain in His love?  Did He know the temptations we would face? Did He know that we would be tempted to flee from Him and deny Him?  Did He know how much the culture would pressure us to turn from Him, distract us or how much it would drown Him out?

We all love the feeling of being close to Our Lord, but it no doubt can be a challenge in today’s world to keep ourselves strong and focused enough to remain there.  Like anything else we want in life, it takes effort to stay there.  What is our plan to remain in the love of the Lord? A full life of prayer?  Daily mass?  Frequent confession?  Spiritual direction?  Retreats?  Hopefully all of the above.