MEDITATION OF THE DAY SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 15: 22-31; JN 15:12-17
THEME:UNITY IN ESSENTIALS AS THE WAY TO LOVE

Yesterday, we were told that Jesus came to give us joy, a joy that is complete because it is His own joy.  What then is this joy?  It is the joy of loving unto death.  So great is His love for us that He calls us ‘friends’, because He has made known to us everything He had learnt from His Father.  But most of all, He proved His love when He died for us, for “a man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.”  This, then, is the joy that Jesus was speaking about.  The joy that comes from self-emptying love is the most complete joy that anyone can possibly have.  But we all know that loving each other is not so simple.  All of us want to love but when we live in a community where the members come from different background with varied interests, talents and personalities, such harmonious and fraternal concern is certainly very challenging. This was the reality that confronted the early Christians. With the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles, the early Church was faced with the difficulty of living with the non-Jews who did not observe Jewish customs and sensitivities.  Although the Jews had been converted to Christianity, many of them still could not give up their customs and beliefs.  Consequently, they found themselves discomforted by the behavior and life-style of the non-Jews.  As a result, some tried to impose their Jewish customs on the non-Jewish Christians. Inevitably, this brought about resentment and grievances.

How, then, can we preserve unity and love in community life?  The key to unity in diversity is simply this: distinguish the essentials from the non-essentials. This was the basic principle that guided the apostles and elders in Jerusalem in their decisions.  Whatever guidelines that were given, were motivated by this one principle, namely, that the gentiles should not be saddled “with any burden beyond these essentials.”  In other words, the apostles recognized that there were things that were truly essential and there were practices that were non-essential. Only what was essential were insisted upon. Everything else was negotiable and was not to be imposed on others.

This is certainly a very important and enlightened manner of building community life.  Very often we fight over non-essentials and petty matters.  And the irony of it all is that so often the community breaks up over petty problems rather than over fundamental principles.  This should not be the case as most of our disagreements are over minor issues, e.g. over some secondary rubrics in liturgy; the way we dress, pray and sing; live our lives and over some material needs.

PRAYER: God has made the decision to love us and save us. May we also make the decision to love God and to love others as we share with them the Good News of salvation in Jesus Name.Amen

Jesus is love indeed. Sacrificed by his loving father.
God is truly love!
Mu he he he he he

Funny Christians should be preaching about love.

*TWISTED*!

Oturugbeke o!