EUCHARIST COMING TO LIFE
True love is
sacrificial! Love gives all to the beloved.
A
new way of love! That is what Jesus gives us in the new commandment: "Love
one another as I have loved you." What is the essence of this new
commandment? True love is sacrificial! Love gives all to the beloved. There is
no greater proof in love than the sacrifice of one's life for the sake of
another. Jesus Christ proved His love for us by giving His life for God's
people. Jesus knew the joy and contentment of a life fully surrendered to God
and consumed with the ultimate gift of love.
Every
command that our heavenly Father has given to us -- what to do, or what to
refrain from doing -- is for our own well being. As one of the prefaces states,
"You have no need of our praise." All that our heavenly Father asks
of us is to improve the quality of our lives during our journey. The quality of
our lives matters to Him, just as the well-being of every creature matters to
God. Isn't the whole Bible just evidence
of how God wants to be involved to show us how to live life on the right path?
From
St. Peter's preaching in the first reading from Acts, we see that the rules and
laws that the Jews were saddled with before the coming of Jesus were a burden
to them; the man-made rules were too heavy. This point granted, our willingness
to follow the commandments is best understood as an expression of our gratitude
-- the Eucharist coming to life.
In
today's responsorial psalm (Ps 96), we acclaim boldly God's marvelous deeds. We
sing a new song and bless His name throughout the world...
Keeping
the Commandments is an expression of love!