A Reading from the First Letter of Saint John 3:18-24

"Children, Let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth"'

When a loved one does something I don't approve of, I somewhat feel their love for me is lacking. How can someone say they love me and yet break my heart?

But don't we say--"Jesus, I love you", and then ignore all His rules?

When we love someone we want to please them. The same is true of our love for Jesus. How do we remain in God's love? God's love language is obedience. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments". (1 John 5:3). We express our love for Him as we obey His commandments. We are called to love Him and to submit ourselves to Him and to others.

Jesus showed His love to His Father by obediently laying His life down on a cross. He submitted Himself to service to all humanity. He gave us Himself in the Eucharist. And on Pentecost , Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit.

We try to obey the commandments but how do we remain in God's love? We should listen to the movements in our hearts--if we feel a tug--LISTEN. The Holy Spirit pours God's love into us and reassures us with a "tug here" and a "tug there". The Holy Spirit writes God's words of love in our hearts and helps us obey His commandments. He helps us make good decisions but we must STOP, PRAY and LISTEN. The Holy Spirit won't stop working in us until our every words, thoughts and actions please Jesus and build up His Kingdom.

So............

1. Choose to remain in God's love today.

2. Listen to the movements of your heart as the Holy Spirit connects us with God.

3. Fix your thoughts on Jesus.

4. Work on our legacy of enduring faithfulness.

God Bless