The gift of fraternal love

The gift of fraternal love

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to live by the two great commandments: Love God with everything we have and love our neighbor as ourselves. Pope Francis summed up these words at a talk he gave to pilgrims in Rome. He said: ”We are a community nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. Communion with the Body of Christ is an effective sign of unity, of communion, of sharing. One cannot participate in the Eucharist without committing oneself to mutual fraternity, which is sincere. But the Lord knows well that our human strength alone is not enought for this. On the contrary, He knows that among His disciples there will always be the temptation of rivalry, envy, prejudice, division …. We are all aware of these things. For this reason too He left us the Sacrament of His real, tangible and permanent Presence, so that, in remaining united to Him, we may always receive the gift of fraternal love. “Abide in my love” (Jn 15:9), Jesus said; and this is possible thanks to the Eucharist. To abide in friendship, in love.”