A WORD FOR TODAY 29 MAY 2020

A WORD FOR TODAY

LOVE JESUS AND SERVE HIM IN THE PEOPLE

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)_

The question put to Simon Peter in the gospel reading of today by Jesus is something that we must respond to individually as followers of Christ. If we do not declare our love for Jesus and be ready to give our all for Him, we will never qualify to bear the name, 'disciples of Jesus'.

It is not an irony that Peter denied Jesus three times and also professed and affirmed his love for Jesus in the same number of times. The message in this encounter is that we must not just declare that we love God, but we must be prepared to pratically show it by taking care of others and helping them to come to know who Jesus is.

Any profession of love for Jesus that does not have a practical and sacrificial expression in the lives of others can never qualify for true and authentic love. It is simply fake and counterfeit. If we truly love Jesus we must respond in the affirmative as Peter did, then we must listen to Jesus so that we will carry out the next responsibility that follows, 'feed my lambs, tend my sheep and feed my sheep.'

Every love we express to God comes with a task and in carrying out this task we must also prepare to suffer for the sake of Christ. Our love for Jesus must be more than the love we have for anyother thing in this life, money, house, cars, jewelleries, status, family, friends, clubs, associations, positions, and so on. We must be ready to lay down our lives as a ransom for many. We must do good to others and show them the path that leads to God and in that way we shall truly show that we are God's children and that we love Him.

We must be disposed like saint Peter to be willing and ready to serve the Lord in the people. God will know that we love Him when we do good to people without seeking for reward. When we support those who may have no one to speak for them. When we help the young ones to have confidence in themselves as they come to seek the Lord's face. When we feed the hungry, cloth the naked and give water to the thirsty. All these and more are channels through which we will show Jesus that we love Him and it will bring us blessings also.

Good morning dearest one. Smile😊as you do your work and do have a lovely day. May Jesus help you to love Him and to do His will always especially in helping the needy. Amen. And may the Almighty God bless you: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Meditation: Acts 25:13-21/Psalm 103:1-2,11-12,19-20/John 21:15-19

Watch-Word: Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

Words are not enough to express our love, we must go a step further to practically show it true our actions

(Friday of the Seventh week of Easter. Cycle A)