May 6, 2018 6th Sunday of Easter 1st Reading: Acts 10:25–26, 34–35, 44–48 2nd Reading: 1 Jn 4:7–10
Gospel: Jn 15:9–17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; remain in my love. You will remain in my love if you keep my commandments, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
“I have told you all this, that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends; and you are my friends if you do what I command you.
“I shall not call you servants any more, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learned from my Father. (…)”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Several years ago, pop singer Martin Nievera caught the ire of patriotic citizens after he sang his own version of the Philippine National Anthem at the start of one of the most viewed fights of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao. The fuss over how this song should be sung is an indication of great reverence not only to the country but also to the song itself.
The last melodic phrase of this song takes it from the patriotic to the spiritual level. “Ang mamatay ng dahil sa ‘yo” really means dying for others. And this is what today’s Gospel reading is all about. Jesus says, “No greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”.
We also have a classic song entitled “Dahil sa ‘yo”, and another one popularized by Wency Cornejo in the 90’s entitled “Habang may buhay”. While the National Anthem talks about dying for others, these two songs talk about living for others. A comparison of these three songs takes us deeper into the kind of love which today’s Gospel invites us to practice. To love the way Jesus wants us to love is to lay down our life for others. This laying down of life may be done either by dying (ang mamatay ng dahil sa ‘iyo), or by living and spending that life for the beloved (“Habang may buhay sa ‘yo’y ibibigay”).
Dying for others, as in the case of martyrdom, is a one-shot deal. But living for others requires consistency, constancy and the willingness to suffer indefinitely for the sake of the beloved. While dying is the measure of the loftiness of one’s love, living for others is the measure of its depth. The height that love can ascend to is endless, but its depth is equally bottomless. Whether love takes us to living or dying for others, the call is the same: to love without measure. —(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
vvv
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