Acts 15:7-21 / John 15:9-11
The human heart usually has a soft spot for those who are left aside or neglected along the way or who are always the losers in life.
There is this story of a young girl who showed her grandfather her collection of dolls.
When he asked her which doll she liked the most, she picked up a miserable-looking tattered doll.
When he asked her why, she replied - Because this one needs my love most, Nobody else would like it.
Yes, the human heart has a soft spot for the neglected, those left behind, the underdogs and those who don't seem to make it anywhere in life.
If such is the human heart, then what about the heart of God?
God loves us, and He loves us all the more because we are sinners.
We don't deserve God's love but yet God knows we need it.
The challenge is to remain in God's love.
In the gospel, Jesus tells us that we remain in God's love by keeping His commandment of love.
In the 1st reading, we heard how Peter and James had recourse to this commandment of love as they resolved the problem of the Gentile Christians in the early Church.
Yes, we remain in God's love by keeping His commandment of love. That will soften our hearts so that we can be filled with joy.