John 15:9-17
Gospel according to John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved 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 do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
Reflections
Today’s Gospel message centers on love. As the Father and the Son are connected in perfect love and harmony, Jesus asks the disciples to remain united in love, and in mission, to love one another as he has loved them.
What kind of love is Jesus talking about? The Ten Commandments create an order based on what to do and what not to do. Jesus is talking about the motivation behind loving others not only as much as one loves oneself, but beyond, being able to offer one’s life as a sacrifice for the sake of the other.
Let’s expand a bit on this thought to extrapolate its meaning for us today: This teaching is not understandable without considering an anthropological view of the person as a body, mind, and spirit entity. While the body and physiology are naturally built for self-preservation, and the mind is geared toward achieving a balance, the spirit is always directed for something that is other than oneself. (1)
To be a human being, according to Viktor Frankl, who first used such a holistic model of the person in the areas of psychiatry, and psychotherapy, is to reach beyond oneself for a meaning to fulfill, or for another human being to love. “In other words, stated Frankl, being human always means transcending oneself, and unless this self-transcendent quality is recognized, psychology degenerates into some sort of monadology,” a closed system where love and care for another being are explained on the basis of self-serving drives and instincts or ulterior motives and interests. (1) Frankl asserted that “Self-transcendence is the essence of existence.” (1)
What does self-transcendence mean? It means being able to see a value that is inherent in a situation, and by making oneself available to fulfill this value, fulfill the meaning of the moment. The result of fulfilling the meaning of the moment is a sense of satisfaction, joy, and contentment.
Frankl was convinced that success and happiness cannot be directly aimed for, because they elude any will to pleasure or power. (2) Only the will to meaning, fulfilling that which was intended for that person is a particular situation and in a particular moment in time is it possible to experience the joy; the joy of belonging; the joy of counting, and the joy of being part of a greater plan.
According to Frankl, there are three ways in which meaningful tasks can be fulfilled; through creative values, experiential values, or attitudinal values. (2) Actualizing creative values leads to bringing into the world something that was not there before. They constitute the human ability to co-create and to collaborate in bringing forth something into the world. Experiential values stand for what human beings take from the world in terms of engagement and relationships with creation. They constitute the human ability to respond and to be responsive. Attitudinal values refer to the position taken by human beings towards a fate that cannot be changed. Through actualizing what is the best outcome for all involved, and the best possible under the circumstances, human beings exercise their freedom of will to take a stand toward creation and everything it is that is finite, fallible and vulnerable.
Let’s return to the core of the message: “Abide in my love,” says Jesus, “as I abide in the love of the Father.” This sentence reveals the motivation of love out of which the will of the Father is manifested on earth, and the dignity of being a human with the freedom to choose to conform our will to His will. And, it continues by setting the example: “Love each other as I have loved you.”
Love is the binding force of the universe through which the commandments become an invitation to act with kindness, mercy, goodness, and compassion, with fortitude and self-discipline. The strength to bear the Fruits of the Spirit is fortified by the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. (3)
These gifts of the Holy Spirit are found in the Book of Isiah 11:1-2. (4) In Latin, they are: Sapentia, intelectus, consilium, fortitude, scientia, pietas, et Timor Domini. (5) When we ask for the gifts of the Hoy Spirit, we ask for the means to that enable us to be more preceptive to the will of God to live a virtuous life, and to bring fruits of perfection which are the prefiguration of eternal glory: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. (3)
Wisdom is the ability to see things from a higher point of view, and from the point of view of Divine Wisdom. It is grounded in common sense (reason and heart) strengthened by life experience that considers the virtues of hope, love, charity, and faith. It is the ability to make good decisions. Wisdom helps us to distinguish right from wrong, seek truth, and uphold justice for all. It helps to balance what is good for the self with the common good. (4)
Understanding is the gift of intelligence, the ability to discern and to discover meaning. (4)
Counsel is the ability to give good advice, the teach, guide, inform, “warn and admonish, recommend and encourage.” Counsel is the ability to give and to receive good advice. (4)
Fortitude is moral strength and endurance; the ability to remain courageous, steadfast, and determined in the face of obstacles. It is the ability to endure suffering with a resolute spirit, stamina, and resiliency. (4)
Knowledge is “…the ability to study and learn; to acquire, retain, and master a wide spectrum of information; and to put it to good use for constructive purposes.” (4)
Fear of the Lord is the ability to let go of human self-sufficiency and to acknowledge God’s power with awe and reverence. (4)
Piety is the willingness to live one’s life in conformity with the will of God. (4)
Simply put, in today’s Gospel, Jesus points to his heart, a heart of love. The more love can pulsate through our lives, the more we are a living part of the cosmic dynamics that envelope us with everlasting, omnipotent, and omniscient power.
-- From the first heartbeat, Love pulsates through in the rhythm of today’s message as its content is expanded for explanation, and contracted back to its essence.
Resources:
Frankl, V. E., & Batthyány, A. (Ed). (2010). “On the meaning of love.” In: The feeling of meaninglessness: A challenge to psychotherapy and philosophy. (D. Hallowell, Trans.). Marquette University Press.
Frankl, V. E. (2014). The will to meaning. Foundations and applications of logotherapy. New York, NY: Penguin/Random House.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (2024). The Gifts and the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. www.vatican.va
VanSloun, M. A. (2011). What are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit? Archspm.org
Oxford Reference (2024). Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Seven. Oxfordreference.com