'If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we shall come to Him and make our home with Him.'

This is the promise of Christ to us. This also reveals the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father that draws us to a closer relationship with them. By this, we are called to have total dependence on God like Jesus through whom God is made visible by the signs Jesus did. His whole life is a reflection of God's goodness, power and love. We are called to this life of faith in Jesus as God's instruments of peace, love and justice, thus giving life to others through Jesus.

The purpose of this promise is to express the unrestricted scope of the personal relationship between God, Jesus and the believers. This is also made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit who continues to act in and through us.

However, we often fail in this relationship by allowing worldly values to influence and control our lives. We lose track of the 'focus' and like the 'crowd' in the first reading, we become attached to worldly things - wealth, power, fame and status and other inordinate attachments. We need to remain faithful and persevering in our response to the love God has so graciously given us.