Wellspring of Scripture

 

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Second Reading: 1 John 3: 18-24

The commandments of God are very simple - to believe in Jesus as the Son of God - and to love one another as Jesus told us to.

It is very easy to say we love people - but John reminds us that our love has to go beyond that. To be sure that it is real, we must see that our love is active and fruitful in the service of God and our neighbour.

 

There is a school of thought that we should not remember the good things we have done - in fact, Jesus himself says that the “just” people did not remember times when they had fed the hungry, clothed the naked and so on.

 

However, the warning may be taken to extremes - when recalling any good we have done is seen as “pride”. It is true that there are self-righteous people who can reel off a whole list of good works that they have to their credit - and also true that this might have more than a hint of pride in it. As Jesus also said, they have their reward in the boasting.

 

For most people, though, the knowledge that they have done something good and kind leaves a warm glow of wholesome pride.

 

It is, in fact, essential to the healthy formation of the conscience that children experience that warmth so that they can learn to discern between right and wrong. Warmth/ wholesome pride = good; cold guilt and shame = wrong. To have one without the other is unbalanced and harmful.

 

By examining our conscience and looking for the “warm spots” and the “cold spots”, we can work out for ourselves where our life is going. Too many cold spots and we have some thinking to do - what is going wrong?

 

It is not possible to have too many “warm spots”! And, at the end of a day, what better preparation can there be for rest than that we enjoy bathing in the warmth of the knowledge that, just as God loves us, we have been able to bring some of that love and warmth into the lives of others

 

What does this mean for me?

 

Practise examining your conscience in the way suggested here: looking for cold spots - and savouring the warm ones

 

| Gospel | First Reading | Second Reading |

| Weekly Wellsprings | Wellspring Core Page |