Today’s Gospel takes you to the heart of Christian life. It speaks to us of the commandment, the only commandment: “that you love one another as I have loved you”. But, can love be a commandment, a law, or an order? Can we be commanded to love? In reality, love is something that comes from within a person and it cannot be ordered or commanded. In the military, orders are given and obeyed. The same thing happens at work. But no one can order us to feel what we have to feel towards those around us.
Jesus knows that it is something different. He has experienced the love of the Father; it has been his experience that the God the Father is nothing but pure love. Presence of God the Father in this world is manifested through his love for each one of us. It is his love that gives us life. It is God’s love that created this world and that keeps it in existence.
We are creatures of his love and he has loved us first. Hence, love for one’s creator is a rule – a commandment. Love, as the second reading says, is not something that is born of us but is born in God. He is the origin of love, of that life stream without which we cannot live. One cannot put limits on that love that comes from God. For God there are no Jews or pagans. God goes beyond rules, beyond traditions. His love is stronger than any human law. God gives himself and gives himself to all.
Today’s readings invite us to look at the love with which God loves and cares for us. From that experience, our own love, our capacity to love and to give life to those around us, spring forth. It is something similar to trying to convince someone that not going to Mass on Sundays is a sin. It is much better to invite them to come to our community, to make them enjoy the celebration of the Eucharist with songs, with brotherhood, with the encounter with Jesus. It is possible that he or she will come back. But if we threaten with sin, it is very easy for them to turn away.
With love, something similar happens. Love cannot be demanded or forced. If you want to have more members coming to your Church community, make them feel loved and welcomed. If you find members of the Church not coming to the Church anymore, do not blame them, instead do an introspection to see if your behaviour has driven them away from the Church. In practice, this is what it means to be a Christian.
For your reflection
What concrete and practical signs do I have of that love of God? Is it possible that the love I receive from those around me is the best sign of God’s love? How do I transmit that love of God to those around me?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by
Father Alberto Rossa CMF
