This passage from the gospel of John (14: 15-21) speaks so intensely of intimacy that it stirs in us sentiments of warm, sacred reverence. 

They are words spoken in a most uncommon setting by Jesus only hours before giving his life on the cross. 

Thus, they are etched forever in the memories and hearts of his friends who hear them for the first time and, then, feel compelled to hand them down to future generations in all their preciousness, all the way to us, two thousand years later, to give more significance to  Jesus’ gestures of supreme self-immolation, every time we gather for a Holy Mass. 

For us, wishing to become truly “Eucharistic people,” this hallowed setting proves that whenever the heart speaks, it doesn’t need any flowery, polished, carefully selected words, as both Speaker and his friends have naturally crossed the threshold of correctness and entered the room where only words flowing from a heart brimming with the purest love can be spoken.  

Undoubtedly, awareness of that unmatched love fills that upper room and imposes simplicity of expression while disposing of any pretension.  

Souls are intentionally laid bare as everyone has already agreed that absolutely nothing would break the bond that unites all those present. 

No one would even dream of defiling the sacredness of those words with lukewarmness, aloofness or to record them for future self-gain. 

All those present adhere to the silent pact that every word exchanged there shall be measured exclusively by selfless love. 

Today, at this Holy Mass, it is our turn to be in that upper room.  As anticipated, today too, the bond of love uniting everyone present is such that all intentions, thoughts, plans, words, actions and reactions are sifted by and marked by pure love. 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Could our life be simplified more than that? Of course not!  

However, if being in the upper room causes us to feel uncomfortable on account of our sinful past, and we were to put off our adherence to that simplification, we would uncover duplicity in our hearts.  

And any hesitation on our part to reach its inescapable conclusions would betray the presence of self-interest and indifference, which are the very opposite of love. 

On a personal note, imagining myself in that upper room after having ignored this inescapable logic oftentimes, at long last, I am now convinced that whenever I decide to live by that logic, with God’s grace, I would progress rapidly on the path to holiness. 

As you join me inside the Cenacle and hear these moving words from the lips of Jesus mere hours before the cross, you too, would have to admit without hesitation that we all sin; that we fail to keep his commandments because our love for Jesus is so weak and spotty that it cannot keep us obedient to his commandments. 

And if that were not embarrassing and humbling enough, I could share with you a most painful conclusion: we continue to fall into our “habitual sins,” we do not snap out of them because we are not ready or willing or desirous to prove our love for Jesus in a way that passes the honesty test of resolve.  

Certain sins can have such a grip on us that they become a practically irresistible addiction. 

We cannot say to Jesus: I love you, while already seeking another fix in our habitual sins. 

From personal experience (Romans 7:19-25), St. Paul describes the battles most of which, save for a few exceptions, we have lost and might continue to lose: 

“For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.”  

Yet, we cannot forget that nothing is impossible to God (Matthew 19: 26). With his Body and Blood Jesus gives us also the Holy Spirit. Hence, he can add:  Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” (John 14:21) 

We must believe that, with the Holy Spirit sustaining us step by step, whenever tempted, he will remind us of our promise to prove our love for Jesus.   

And the love that Jesus reveals to us with so much tenderness will help us increase the frequency of our victories. Also, the sensation of winning over our sins is “addictive.”