Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1 Jn 4:7-10 ; Jn 15:9-17
In 1941, the German Army began to round up Jewish people in Lithuania.
Thousands of Jews were murdered. But one German soldier objected to their
murder. He was Sergeant Anton Schmid. Through his assistance, the lives of at
least 250 Jews were spared. He managed to hide them, find food, and supply them
with forged papers. Schmid himself was arrested in early 1942 for saving these
lives. He was tried and executed in 1942. It took Germany almost sixty years to
honour the memory of this man, Schmid. Said Germany's Defence Minister in 2000,
saluting him, "Too many bowed to the threats and temptations of the
dictator Hitler, and too few found the strength to resist. But Sergeant Anton
Schmid did resist."
This is the central theme of today's Gospel. "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." The hero Schmid went beyond what even Jesus encouraged. He laid down his life for strangers. (Fr. James Gilhooley).
We are chosen to be the ambassadors of God's love. But, we live in such a way that we declare that we are sent out into the world to compete with one
another, or to dispute with one another, or to quarrel with one another. We live in a world that encourages everything but love. Children are taught to compete with one another. Parents encourage them to defeat their friends by getting at least one mark more, by submitting one project extra, by taking one more run in a cricket match, but shooting one more goal in a football match and so on. In our frantic attempt to gain popularity as the first, we ignore the sublime values of love and sacrifice.Jesus had the perfect right to demand it from his followers, because he
had exhibited it by living a life of love and sacrifice. He laid down his life
and taught: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for
one's friends." This sacrificial love was imitated by many great men, like
Schmid, Maximilian Colbe, and the noble martyrs.
Jesus makes these demands on us because He had called to be his friends
and friends of God. There was a custom in the court of the Roman Emperors to
keep a select group of men called the friends of King, or the friends of the
Emperor. At all times they had access to the king. He talked to them before he
talked to his generals. The friends of the king were those who had the closest
and the most intimate connections with him.
Jesus called us to be his friends and the friends of God. In order to
make us to be worthy of this, he had taken away all our blemish. French writer
Henri Barbusse (1874-1935), tells of a conversation overheard in a trench full
of wounded men during the First World War. One of the men, who knew he only had
minutes to live says to one of the other men, "Listen, Dominic, you've led
a very bad life. Everywhere you are wanted by the police. But there are no
convictions against me. My name is clear, so, here, take my wallet, take my
papers, my identity, take my good name, my life and quickly, hand me your
papers that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death."
Jesus' invitation to be friends of God places the same offer before us.
To be a new man. And, to prove it to the world by practicing his commandment of
love. We require great courage to show it. "A coward is incapable of
exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave." wrote Mahatma Gandhi.
Jesus gives the assurance that "Love will always bear fruit."
At times it may appear to us that to do good to certain people is a waste of
time; people are often ungrateful, and on occasions those to who we have done
good turn against us. But, we should not get discouraged; because we do not
know when, how and where love will bear fruit. It is the assurance of Jesus
that "Love will bear fruit." The love that Jesus bestowed on his
disciples bore fruit; they travelled to the ends of the then known world
announcing the love of God, and doing good to the people. It bore fruit in the
life of Schmid. It bore fruit in the life of Mother Theresa. It bore fruit in
the life of Pope John Paul. It bears fruit in our lives.
May God help us in our attempt to show his love to our brothers in small
little ways. Amen.
Satish