Choice and Love

05-08-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. James Aboyi, V.C.

Our scripture readings this weekend are centered on the theme of “choice and love.” We heard this clearly in the Gospel when Jesus said: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

This message is timely as we celebrate Mothers’ Day today. In His loving kindness, God freely gives us the greatest gift that we can never give to ourselves, the gift of life. We do not choose when to come into this world, which country to come from and who our parents will be. God made those choices for us without consulting us because He knows what is best for us. This message is very important for us in our time as we now live in a society that places a high value on “freedom of choice.” Jesus reminds us today that it is God’s choice of a human life that gives it value, not our choice. It is God’s decision to entrust our mothers with the precious gift of the ability to bring forth new life into the world, not a human choice. Our mothers were chosen by God for us, and we were chosen by God for our mothers. This is the beauty of life.

God not only blesses us with the precious gift of life, He also blesses us with the gift of love and invites us to share in His Divine love. In the Gospel today, Jesus said to His disciples and all of us, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” We are commanded both to receive and give the kind of love God gives us. This involves the willingness to lay down our lives for one another. This is exactly the opposite of laying down others’ lives for ourselves as we see today as in the case of abortion and other forms of violence.

On this Mother’s Day, we thank all mothers for accepting the responsibility of bringing us into this beautiful world, for their personal sacrifi ces and for their love and care for us; their love is a reflection of God’s love for us. Let us pray for all mothers on this day, especially for expectant mothers, those praying for the fruit of the womb and those facing diff erent challenges of motherhood that they will receive the support of the Blessed Mother and the care and support of people around them.

Thank you and remain blessed,
Fr. James

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