In Love

The kids and I used to be really good about doing crafts every week to go along with the upcoming Sunday gospel, which we always read together on Thursday mornings.   The past few years, we have gotten away from the crafting, though we do still read the gospel.  Today we opened the Bible to see what Sunday's gospel would be and it seemed as though the words were meant for us (which, of course, they were!) .

John 15:9-17 

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."

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another."

The words alone were comforting and just what we needed to hear this week.  But I thought a craft might help us to really understand even better.

The children traced their hands and we glued them down to represent God the Father.  Then we made the Sacred Heart of Jesus and put that into the "Father's" hands.  Then the children made little pictures of themselves and put themselves into Jesus' Sacred Heart.  

So, there we are-- in Jesus' love as He is in the Father's love.  Exactly where we need to be.