Remain in My Love.
Kapit nang Mahigpit, Huwag Bibitiw.
May 5, 2021
Gising! BFF ka ni Hesus!
May 7, 2021PITIK-BULAG: Remain in My Love
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5).
It’s easy to relish the love of God when everything is well. But we begin to doubt God’s love when our peaceful life becomes difficult because of persecution, trials, and challenges. The Lord explicitly told us that trials and persecution will come because of our decision to follow him: “”If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.” (John 15:18).
Yet, in today’s gospel, Jesus has reminded his disciples to remain firm in His love when things get tough. He explicitly said, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” (John 15:9).
REMAIN IN MY WORDS. When Jesus invites us to remain in his love, it’s an invitation to remain faithful to his words: that we are loved by God. He has chosen us even before creation. He created us in his own image and likeness. Therefore, we are special in His eyes. We are His beloved. He knows everything about us.
WHEN SUFFERING COMES, DOUBT COMES. Unfortunately, our experience of the never-ending ups and downs of life takes a toll on us. When our wounds caused by someone or caused by some tragic experience put us down, or when we are in facing darkness like this pandemic, we begin to question His love. In the process, we begin to doubt his enduring presence, even our true identity of being loved by God. Worst of all, we begin to doubt too the “seeds of divinity” ingrained in our being. In the end, we forget our true selves, our personal vocation: that we are loved by God as we are.” Thus, in our gospel today, Jesus reminds us to REMAIN IN HIS LOVE, so as not to forget nor doubt that we have been chosen and called by our name. (Isaiah 43:1).
But how can we remain in God’s love when we are living in darkness or being persecuted? How can we reclaim our true selves in the midst of hopelessness and persecution? How can we sustain our faith in Him when facing pandemic?
THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITHIN. God’s invitation is to get in touch with the presence of God within us. At the inner core of our hearts is our God asking us to commune with Him in silence. We are always bombarded with so many distractions, frustrations, and pains. God wants us to be still and let the loving presence of God inebriate our hearts. We are invited to sit and to relish his love, to recall those beautiful moments of being loved by God in the past and at the present moments, and be more aware of his presence in our lives.
John O Donohue wrote something about reclaiming our true identity: “In the inner landscape of the soul is a nourishing voice of freedom always calling you. It encourages you to enlarge your frames of belonging – not to settle for a false shelter that does not serve your potential. There is no cage for the soul. Each one of us should travel inwards from the surface constraints and visit the wild places within us. There are no small rooms there. Each one of us needs nourishment and healing of these inner clearances. One of the most crippling prisons is the prison of reduced identity.”
Pause for a while and just allow the Lord to repeat those words to you: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” Relish the words. Let it sink into your inner core.
Do you really know who you are? Are you convinced that God loves you as you are? Believe. Be at peace. Reclaim your authentic self. Relish your identity as God’s children. Our identity comes from Him, and not from what we have done or achieved or what people think of us. From the very beginning, even before creation, we are already in God’s heart.
– Pitik-Bulag
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May 6, 2021 – Thursday
