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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 11 May 2023
Acts 15:7-21   ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'>   John 15:9-11

Today dear Jesus,
thrice you have asked us
"remain in my love"
in three short verses
of the gospel.

And I wonder why you used
the word to "remain" 
than "stay" as we would use
these days,
"staying in love"?

Should I stay, or
should I remain?
It may sound like more of 
semantics but to remain 
sounds strong,
evoking firmness
and resolve.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

John 15:9-10

Remaining in your love,
Lord Jesus, 
is being deeply rooted in you
like a big tree;
to be rooted in you
means being secured 
about who we are
as your beloved
and what is our mission
in this world which is to love,
love, and love;
remaining in your love, Lord,
is therefore having our hearts
connected with your heart,
feeling your presence
and movements in us and among us,
when we do not become anxious
when challenged and attacked,
when turmoil happen in our
relationships because it is you
whom we always see
and tries to find like Peter
and James, Paul and Barnabas
during the Council of Jerusalem
in the first reading.

Remaining in your love,
Jesus, is remaining connected,
remaining one in you, with you
that results in joy in us
because what we see,
what we experience,
what we believe 
is you working
in us and among us.
Amen.