Posted by The WORD in Other Words by Fr Michael Layugan SVD (Philippines)
Monday Week 5 Easter, Acts 14:5-18, John 14:21-26
What if the one you truly love cheats on you? What if the one you call your best friend betrays you? What if your colleague spreads nasty rumors behind yourback? And the list of ‘what ifs’ can be endless. Will it be easy to love those whohave hurt you?
The message for us today is to keep and observe the Lord’s commandment of love. The biblical passage points out that to love is a command; it is not a request.
It is certainly easy to reciprocate the love of those who love us. But it takes a lot of courage to love those who have betrayed our trust. The litmus test of our love for God rests on how we love our neighbors, the ones we live with. In like manner, the Gospel reminds us that the ones who love, love the Lord.
The merit of loving lies in loving those who are difficult to love, those who are unloved, those who have been neglected by society, those who live in the margins and those who have been forgotten that they still exist.
