SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

That His Joy May Be In Us

In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus explain love to his disciples. He says, “Love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). Often, it can seem like Jesus is asking too much. How can we love like Him? He is perfect, and we are not. He does not expect perfection, but he wants us to try.  We show our love even in the small sacrifices we make for others. 

After recently reflecting on today’s Gospel, our St. Matthew School students shared that they experience great love in their families.  In their words: 

• “Mom is always caring and loving to me and my siblings. Jesus sacrifices himself for us and so does my mom. She sacrifices herself for her family.” 
• “My parents love me and want what is best for me. Jesus also loves me and is willing to do anything if it is what is best for me.” 
• “My brother, since I was a baby, would take care of me when my parents weren’t there. He helped me pray.” 
• “My mom loves me a lot. Jesus forgives and so does my mom. She reminds me of Jesus.” 

As the students talked about how we can love, they added that we can share with others and forgive those who hurt us. We can take time for others and listen to them.  We can be kind and think about how our actions affect others. We show our love when we are obedient to those in authority and quickly comply with their requests. 

Jesus tells us that the greatest love is to lay down one’s life for others.  We lay down a little bit of our life every time we make a sacrifice for another person. We follow Jesus’s command to love one another. As today’s Gospel tells us, in doing so His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete.

–St. Matthew students

Send Us Forth are reflections written by St. Matthew parishioners and friends.