Fr Paul reads from John’s Gospel (15: 9-11) in which Jesus tells his disciples, ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 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 own joy may be in you and your joy be complete’. In the case of God’s commandments, Fr Paul notes, a commandment is understood to be a gift. It indicates the way in which love can be expressed. In the case of obedience, it is a way of seeking to draw closer to God by imitation.

This is how Jesus kept his Father’s commandments and remained in his love. It is also how, we too, can do the same. Jesus showed his love of the Father and his love for us by adopting and enduring the experiences he did. By doing so, it gave full meaning to the love expressed in the reading today: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you’. Mindful of Christ’s love, Fr Paul invites us for reflection today to ask ourselves, ‘How do I return Christ’s love through what I say and do?’