In our first session this morning, we talked about the great story of the salvation of humanity and how the Lord has used everyday people to bring the message of the Gospel to the world. The Father continues to use ordinary people to share that message. He uses each one of us. At the root of that story is love.

Love

Every relationship is supposed to be based on love. When love is at the center of our relationships with family members, friends, fellow parishioners, coworkers, classmates, etc., it changes every aspect of that relationship. It changes the expectations we have on the other person; it affects the effort that is given; it impacts our loyalty to the other person. The model for that love we show and experience in our marriages, in our families, with our friends, coworkers, parishioners should be our relationship with the Lord.

Our relationship with Jesus is one of love. When we encounter the Lord and His love for us, it should change everything that we do. When Jesus comes to us as our Savior, as our Lord, as our friend, it is always flowing out of His love and mercy for us. And we are called to respond to Him out of that same love, because that’s how true friends are meant to treat one another.

This is what the Lord speaks in the Gospel of John:

You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another. (John 15:14-17)

Called to Love

Think back again to the moment when we first encountered the Lord in our own lives. When that experience happened, when Jesus initially called us to be His disciples, we had to respond to that invitation. Obviously, we responded positively to it…because we’re here! We have in some way been changed and we are trying our best to live that discipleship. We didn’t respond out of a sense of fear; instead, we responded out of love for Christ. Jesus shows the love He has for us by entering into our story, calling us out of our sin, calling us to conversion, and making us new.

The way in which we live our lives is a response to Jesus’ invitation to be His disciples. We strive to live the relationship of love to which Christ has called us. We must respond daily to that invitation to relationship with Jesus. It’s essential for our lives as Christians.

We have seen throughout Scripture how Jesus has called His disciples to always strive to live out of love for Him. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and had an important conversation with Peter. This conversation is the same one that Jesus has with us every day we live as a disciple.

This is what we read in John 21:15-19:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Peter had a life before Christ. (Side bar: That is one of the many things I like about The Chosen series because it really shows how the people Jesus chose had a life before becoming one of His disciples, and a life that, again, wasn’t always perfect.) Despite that, Jesus still called Peter to be a disciple, and now, in this interaction after the Resurrection, Jesus asks Peter to continue to follow Him in a relationship of love. He asks us the very same. The most important part of our testimony, of our witness is showing what it means to live in this relationship. It is our mission.

Who am I in Christ?

Our testimony revolves around how we live our relationship with Christ in our ordinary lives. If we don’t focus on this important part, we risk glorifying the wrong Person – we risk glorifying ourselves rather than glorifying the Lord. Ultimately, we risk glorifying sin rather than love, mercy, and redemption.

The measure for how we are embracing the call to discipleship is how we live the ordinary moments of our day. How are we following the Lord in the here and now?

The “present day” part of our testimony emphasizes how our lives are changed by Christ and the ways that we respond in the same way as Peter responds. It emphasizes how we say, “Yes, Lord, I love you,” on a daily basis. It is the part of the testimony that allows others to see how fulfilling a relationship with Christ can be.

This is why it is so important to share our story…it’s part of the great story of love that has been shared from the very beginning of creation, the story that has been told from generation to generation. When we share our story, when we share how we have encountered the Lord, we are participating in the great love affair that God continues to have with humanity.

Throughout our lives with the Lord, we encounter His love reaching out to us in so many different and unique ways. Sadly, we so often miss the ways that the Lord is seeking to enter our hearts. But yet, when we do have those moments of encounter, when we do recognize how the Lord is moving and working in our lives and even in the lives of others, we should be inspired to share what we have experienced and witnessed.

And yet, so many of us shy away from that. Why? I think this makes us come to recognize a difficult reality for so many of us. Some of us have allowed our relationship with Christ to become less than it should be. But there is still hope if that is the case. As with any good relationship, we can return to it and actively engage in it more deeply than before. In fact, Jesus is waiting for us to do that. He is asking us if we still love Him. He is continually calling us to follow Him in a renewed way.

In a few moments, we’re going to have the opportunity for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. As Jesus is exposed on the altar, I invite you to imagine Christ looking directly at you with that incredible gaze of love. Imagine Him calling you to something new, not only in your spiritual life but also in how we serve our parish community. It might be scary or unknown, you may not know what it means, but one thing is certain: whenever we entrust everything to the Lord and seek to follow Him in all that we do, whenever we respond to His invitation with the same love that He gives us, our lives will always be blessed.

Conclusion

Today, how is the Lord seeking to use your story? How does He want to use your life, your example, your witness to show others how He is still working in the lives of His people? How is He seeking to use you to bring others to an encounter with Him? How does He want to change your story? There are many more moments with Christ in our lives to come and more adventures to experience. May we always respond to His invitation with the same love that He extends to us.

Photo Credit: Mayur Gala. Used under Unsplash license.