Abide in My Love

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11)

Readings: John 15:9-11

The following homily was preached to the student brothers during Compline. You can listen here or read below:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9). With these words, Christ, the Lord, speaks directly to our deepest longing, to be loved unconditionally and to be happy eternally.

We are invited into this perfect infinite love, which only God can give, as He is Love Himself. This is the greatest gift of all: God is giving Himself to us.

Jesus says this moments before making His way to the garden of Gethsemane, setting into motion the events of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, in which He shows His immeasurable love for us and demonstrates to us how we are to love each other. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Christ is calling us into a loving relationship with Him. He is calling us to share, to remain, and to live in His love. “Abide in my love.” How are we do to so? Christ tells us in the next verse, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10). In the previous chapter of this Gospel, the Gospel of John, Christ tells us that: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

We are called to obey Him. We are instructed to keep His commandments, no longer as slaves in fear, but as God’s true friends who do all things in Love. It is in keeping God’s commandments that we imitate Christ and grow ever closer to Him.

Christ tells us to follow His commandments so that His joy may be in us, and that our joy may be full. Today’s gospel is ultimately about joy. Joy in being Loved. Joy in being invited to share eternity with God, starting today.

We must ask ourselves, are we full of joy? Do these words bring us joy? Do we simply follow God’s law merely out of fear or of a sense of duty? Do “the precepts of the Lord […] gladden the heart” (Psalm 18:9) as the psalmist says?

If our faith feels heavy and not liberating, we should examine our hearts and turn back to Him who loves us with infinite tenderness. So that we may confidently say: “your law is my delight” (Psalm 118:174).

Image: Anonymous, Christ True Vine (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons).