John 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.”


There are so many quotes from Mother Teresa on the topic of love. Once she said, "The fruit of faith is love, and the fruit of love is service." That is what I think of when I read this gospel. It is what Jesus tells us when he talks about laying down one's life for one's friends. The greatest commandment is to love one another. But we all know love is not just a feeling. It is an action as well. If you want to find out more about God's love I invite you to read Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical "DEUS CARITAS EST".