May 23, 2019 Thursday of the 5th Week of Easter-C

Acts of the Apostles 15:7-21

Psalm 96

John 15:9-11

“…we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus…” Acts 15:11

“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love… John 15:10

Lord, a young man once asked you which one of the commandments was the first and most important.  You told him to love God the Father with all his heart, strength, mind and heart.  In other words with everything he had.  You added a second: love others as we love ourselves.  You tell us that obedience to these two commandments is the key to a strong and beautiful relationship with you.  When we are loved by you, there is nothing else to worry about.  You have won our ransom and will shower us with all the grace we need to stay faithful to your command to love.  When we are grown obedience doesn’t always come natural to us.  So, dear Lord, I rely on your grace to live like I’ve been saved.  That is the key to the complete joy you wanted for your disciples and that you want for me.   Help me to love like you love.  Teach me how to love the difficult and hard to love people in my life.  I can begin by forgiving them like you do.  I can respect them and pray for them.  Maybe one day I can even like them.  Amen.