Gospel: John 15: 9-11
When we hear the phrase: "Keep my commandments" from the mouth of Jesus, what is our first reaction? Is it to search the Gospels for all the commands Jesus gives and create a legal codex for people to follow? The legalism that has reared us would most certainly follow that path, and to what avail? Has it made the world more Christ-like? Has it made the Church more Christ-like? Not so much.
Jesus offers but one command: love one another as I have loved you. In this one phrase we find that Jesus does not at all intend a deontologically legalistic system. He instead offers us a virtue ethics system: follow Jesus' example of love. In every situation, then, we are to discern how Jesus might respond in this moment, how he would respond to these people before me now. It is a continual reading and re-reading and meditation on the Gospel.
In this way our ethical life is not about abstract principles but instead it is enfleshed and real, rooted in the person and example of Jesus. It is not something for us to argue about but something for us to ever ponder over, examine, and discern in our daily prayer life. It is a path that invites dialogue around a table instead of disputation in the public square. Jesus engaged people in their homes and at their tables through relationships; his enemies sought to engage him in the public square through law and power. May our way be the Way, the Way of Jesus.
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