Remain in My Love

May 10, 2012

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

"My brothers, you are well aware that from early days God made his choice among you that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.  And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit just as he did us.  He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts."  Acts 15:7b-9

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.  John 15:10-11

Piety

Let us sing to the Lord a new song.  Not a song ripped from the headlines but a song ripped from our hearts that yearn to remain -- moment by moment -- in God's loving presence.

Study

God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile and early Christian.  All of whom were held to the same standard declared in today's Good News.  Remain in my love by loving others.

These days it is easy to recognize what separates us. And I am not just referring to the divisions between Red Sox Nation and Yankee Nation.  Political divisions are exaggerated in this election year.  The gap between the rich and the poor is widening.  Social and cultural division divide not just Sanford, Florida but everywhere that a simple hooded sweatshirt strikes fear into a neighborhood and everywhere people turn to guns to stand their ground.

God, though, makes no distinction.  God is not running for election or conducting a shareholders' meeting.  He leaves the choosing up to us.  We have it in our power to choose to reside with the people of God or not.  

Action

How will you remain in God's love today?  What distinctions can you discard that separate you from the Lord and from others in your community?