Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the fifth week of Easter, May 7th, 2026

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Pontianak, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 15: 7-21; Rs psalm 96: 1-2a.2b-3.10; John 15: 9-11.STAY ALWAYS IN MY LOVE  Our meditation today has the theme: Stay Always in MyLove. This is a sentence that came from Jesus himself when he revealed himselfto the world as the true vine. He invites all His followers to live with Him,for in Him there is a life that can produce abundance of fruits of love, joy,happiness and salvation. The apostles who heard Him directly had proven themselvesto live with Jesus and they bore fruits in their mission as true witnesses ofthe Lord Jesus Christ to the whole world, as genuine messengers of the Gospel. To fulfill the work of salvation according to theFather's will, Jesus invited those who followed and believed in Him to livewith Him.  He does also now to you and tome. Living in Him makes us enjoy His immense and perpetual love. We respond tothis invitation with our faith that we are ready, we want to, and we long tolive in Him. In the midst of our daily activities day and night, this invitationcomes along and prompts us to think, this must be for our happiness andfullness of life. We cannot simply take it for granted. For those who alwayslive sincerely in God's love, this invitation of Jesus is certainly a greatspiritual enrichment for them. For example, a family that always lives in peace,harmony and love, when it accepts this invitation in good will, they surelyachieve a step further in their growth of faith. For those families orindividuals who have no experience of love or maybe the one who prefers morehatred than love, this invitation and its assurance for a happy life in JesusChrist is a divine initiative that wants to bring them back to God, in theembrace of His bountiful love.  They don't need to be shy, nor to be afraid and theyhave to avoid feeling lack of confidence, because the one who invites and givesassurance is the Lord himself. They must be sure that the love of God is farmore powerful that can overcome all human weaknesses. God's love can heal ourfrail or shattered life and encourage us to start a new life. In choosing tofollow this, one can already embrace a new life and grow to be mature in thelove of Christ. On the basis of that love and especially in the nameof the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles of Jesus held a council of the earlyChurch's leaders in Jerusalem, with the aim to strengthen the vision andmission of the newly established Church. They discussed, debated and evendisagreed over certain different ideas found. But for the sake of the only andholy Church, they came out with a solution from the guidance of the HolySpirit, which was to work together in the building up the Church and continued tospread it throughout the world. Let us renew our commitment to Jesus by saying His ownwords: Stay always in my love! We must not reject it, but we happily welcomeit. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... Almighty God, may Your love reign in ourlives, and we gladly welcome the invitation of Jesus Your Son that we are happyto stay in His love. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the HolySpirit …  In the name of the Father …