have with God becomes a compelling interior force that brings about behaviors in accord with the law of God!

Jesus would later explain to his disciples that this comes from "abiding." He shared this profound truth while walking with them from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane.

His words were captured by St. John in the fifteenth chapter of his gospel. "Abide in Me, and I in you," Jesus said. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (15:4,5)

The love, then, that we are talking about is the sap that runs from the vine trunk of Jesus to us, his branches. More than simply abstaining from wrongful actions, we proactively live in a love relationship with him.

Abiding comes in many ways: through prayer, the reading of Holy Scripture, meditating on his truth, spending time in adoration, etc. There is one part of abiding, however, that our Lord specifically references - the Eucharist. In John 6:56 he tells his disciples, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

Loving Our Neighbor

The horizontal relationship with our fellow man is also a part of God's great commandment. We cannot love God without loving each other.

In his pastoral epistle, St. John makes this vividly clear when he writes that, "He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. He who loves his brother abides in light [there is that word "abide again!] and in it there is no cause for stumbling." (I Jn. 2:9, 10)

The fruitfulness of our love relationship with God is critically linked to the way we relate to those around!

If we continue to use the image of the vine when talking on the "neighbor level," we begin dealing with the area of fruit - how our lives "taste" to others.

Jesus told his disciples that an abiding relationship would yield fruit in our lives. When we think of a grapes, apples, pears, etc., fruit is the outward expression of the inward essence of the plant or tree. So what does this fruit look like?

As spiritual beings, our fruit is described by St. Paul in Galatians: "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

Our love for our neighbor is detected through the spirit in which we care for them and not simply the act itself. This is why love of neighbor in intrinsically involved. So it is not merely that we do things for others but the interior motivation that calls us to loving activity.

This past weekend, the transitional deacon assigned to our parish during his final year in seminary was preaching. He shared about an experience he had during his first year of seminary. He asked a spiritual director how he would know he was making progress in prayer and devotional life.

He was expecting to hear that prayer would become easier, the Scriptures would come alive more quickly, or that he would have a stronger sense of the divine.

The priest looked at him and said, "You'll know you are making progress by the way you relate with other people." In other words it's all about fruit.

The deacon went on to share three verses from Luke's section on the Sermon on the Mount: For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Lk. 6:43-45)

In Jesus' encounter, the scribe was able to take a few steps back from the letter of the law and see the big picture. He realized that love not only surpasses the law but leads to a different place even in terms of the sacrifices to God. He recognized that loving God and neighbor "worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

And by taking the step back, as Jesus told him, he was not far from the Kingdom of God.

During a homily many years ago, a pastor told his parish, "Well, the bottom line regarding our commitment to Christ is this - truly and earnestly love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength then do whatever you want!"

Perhaps a little cavalier, he had a point. God is interested in authentic expressions of love not imitation fruit. No matter how hard you bite down on an artificial grape, it will never be tasty. The same can be said for our love for neighbor.

This Lent I would encourage you to spend some time at your church before the Blessed Sacrament, just taking time to love our Lord. In doing so, look up at the cross and the body of our Lord that hangs there. Remember that the vertical trunk of the cross is His invitation to come to Him, to love Him with our being. Yet on the transepts, His arms are extended in a loving embrace of the world. Through us he wants to love those around us. Through his love we can truly love our neighbor.

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Father Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and a priest with the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (http://usordinariate.org) established by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, through the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. He is currently the chaplain of the St. John Fisher Ordinariate Community, Director of Pro-Life Activities for the Ordinariate, and a priest in residence at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church. He is a popular speaker for parishes and other organizations.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Love, Sermon on the Mount, Total Commitment, Neighbor

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