The scripture readings for this blog can be found at Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle | USCCB
We hear again in today’s gospel that of Jesus’ command to love one another. Our Lord stresses the importance of love in His relationship with us and our relationship with each other. Central in our Lord’s teaching is that we follow His command of 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.” The love of God is both vertical between us and God the Father through Jesus Christ, and horizontal: from us to those in our lives.
It reminds me of the Christian hymn that you may
recall hearing: “They will know that we are Christians by our love, by our
love. They will know we are Christians by our love.” It is through us and how
we live out our lives as Christians that we can bring other people to know the
love that Christ has for each one of us.
Throughout the gospels the Lord teaches many ways of
how we are to live out our Christian vocation of love of God and love of
neighbor. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 12, our Lord says, “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law of the prophets.” Then, also in Matthew, chapter 25, we hear our Lord talk about the Judgement of the nations and how we are to serve others as if we are serving the Lord. Our Lord says, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you do for one of thel east brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mathew 25:40). We are to see Christ
in every person we meet, and to love them as we love Christ.
It’s not always easy loving those in our lives, but it’s
how our Lord is calling us to live out our lives. By bringing that love and
peace that can come from God to those around us we are making this world a more
peaceful place that can truly know the love God has for each one of us.
said in her autobiography, the Story of a Soul,
“Then, overcome by joy, I cried, 'Jesus, my love. At last I have found my
vocation. My vocation is love. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be
love, and then I will be all things.”
All of us are called to
that vocation of love: love of God, and love of neighbor. May we live out this
vocation of love in a way that’s pleasing to God the Father.
Yes, there is no contradiction between love of God & love of neighbor. There is a unity between the two greatest commandments. Each flows into the other & feeds & nourishes the other. As we love God better, we learn to love other people better, & as we love people better we experience loving God better. And as we do for others as we would do for CHRIST & see CHRIST in them, people will be helped to come to know CHRIST from having experienced the love of CHRIST through the working of the Holy Spirit in us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the quote from St. Therese of Lisieux. Whatever gifts with which we might or might not identify in 1 Corinthians 12, we are called to practice & live the greatest gift of love as St. Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13, where St. Therese found her calling.