“Whoever Has My Commandments and Observes Them” by Melanie Rigney

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured. (Acts 8:5-7)

Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.  (Psalm 66:1)

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good if that be the will of God than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:15-17)

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." (John 14:21)

Credit is Ferdinand Bol 

[Public domain], via 

Wikimedia Commons

Piety

Lord, slowly but surely, You reveal Yourself to me as my trust and faith increase. My gratitude is beyond words.

Study

In the literal sense, we all “have” the Lord’s commandments. They’re easy to access—type “ten commandments” in your favorite search engine, and you get millions of results. Or go retro and turn your Bible to Exodus 20.

It’s the observing them that is much harder, of course. Few of us will worship a golden calf, but many of us nudge out of first place in our lives with family, friends, work, possessions, and the link. We work hard at not using the Lord’s name in profanity, but we can fall prey to swearing that we will do something or we didn’t do something, all the while knowing the truth is just the opposite. We go to Mass for the Sabbath and call it good, then go home and engage in activities that make it look like any other day. The list goes on and on.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us real love for Him involves more than lip service. It’s about living the commandments. Certainly, we’ll be persecuted for that, just as the second reading warns. But Peter goes on to remind us that if we are to suffer, let it be for doing good rather than for doing evil. For in bearing that persecution—physical, emotional, mental, or otherwise—we see more of the Lord… and help others to begin to see Him more clearly as well.

Action

Live Sabbath today, even if the most you can manage is a couple hours of relaxation in ways pleasing to the Lord. This evening, think about the ways He used your peace after that time.