You have the words of eternal life
Listening the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Listening the Word: John 14:23-29
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.”
Reflection
In the Gospel of this Sunday we are once more reminded of the importance of the Word of God in our life. “Whoever loves me will keep my word”. It is clear, then, that we cannot put into practice the most important commandment – the commandment of love – if we do not keep the word of Jesus, which is also the word of the Father, into our hearts. And if we want to keep the word of God into our hearts we first need to listen to it, and to listen carefully. We can learn from Mary, who used to keep the words she heard from the angel, from the shepherds, from Simeon and Anna and, above all, from Jesus into her heart. Sometimes she did not understand the words she heard, and yet she kept them with great care because she knew that it was God who was speaking to her. We must consider the word of God as something of great value, a treasure, because it gives us life. “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”. The word of God must become our spiritual daily food. We must learn to feel hungry for it, as we feel hungry for the bodily food that we eat every day. When we listen to the word of God and keep it into our hearts, we keep God himself, according to what Jesus promised: “...we will come to him and make our dwelling with him”. And then the Holy Spirit will teach us everything that we do not understand and, when we need it, He will remind us of all the words we have heard, so that we can know what we have to do to go ahead in our journey of life. This is how we start to truly love God, by listening to his word and keeping it into our hearts.
Reflection Questions
1. Why is listening to and keeping the Word of God essential for living out the commandment of love?
2. What example does Mary give us in how we should receive the Word of God?
