Chosen for Love, Raised to Bear Fruit
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
John 15:12-17
“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.”
Grace Prayed For
To pray for the grace to fully embrace our identity as Jesus’ chosen friends, and to be so filled with His resurrected love that we courageously and joyfully go forth to bear fruit that will last, drawing all people into the embrace of His friendship.
Reflection
In these tender words, spoken in the shadow of the cross yet pulsating with the coming reality of His resurrection, Jesus redefines our relationship with Him and with one another. He calls us not merely followers, but friends. This isn’t a casual friendship; it’s one sealed by the ultimate act of love – His laying down His life, a sacrifice whose power is unleashed through His resurrection.
The resurrection is the game-changer. It’s the divine assurance that this commandment to love as He loved is not an impossible ideal, but a lived reality fueled by His own risen life within us. His victory over death empowers us to break free from the tombs of selfishness and fear, and to step into the light of self-giving love.
This love is not meant to be a static, internal feeling. Jesus appointed us – chose us specifically – “to go and bear fruit that will remain.” What is this fruit? It is the tangible evidence of His love alive in us: acts of kindness, words of forgiveness, a spirit of compassion, and ultimately, drawing others into this same friendship with Christ. This is the heart of the Great Commission – making disciples. It’s not about programs or strategies first, but about a life overflowing with resurrected love that naturally attracts and nurtures others.
The resurrection makes this fruit “remain.” It’s not temporary or fleeting, but has eternal significance because it’s rooted in the eternal life Christ secured for us. When we love as He loves, empowered by His Spirit, we participate in His ongoing work of redemption, a work that the grave could not hold down. We become conduits of His resurrected power, bringing light and life to a world hungry for hope. This mission, to love and bear fruit, is our response to the empty tomb and the Risen Lord who calls us His friends.
Growing in Intimacy/Union with Jesus
Inviting participation in His love: By commanding us to love as He has loved, He invites us into the very essence of His being and His relationship with the Father. Living this out connects our hearts to His.
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post