In our
first reading from the first Letter of Saint John we hear the challenging words
of love. Central to all of John’s writings is that we not only believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ and keep his commandments, but John is teaching what the Lord
Jesus Christ had taught throughout His ministry on earth: “Whoever loves God
must also love his brother.” John makes it very clear when he says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1John 4:20). These are strong words. We
all can say that we love God, but when it comes to loving our neighbor and
doing good for them, that’s when things start getting tough and challenging.
The
challenge is to try to live out this gospel of love in our day-to-day life. We
will always encounter people, whether in our families or those we meet during
the day, that we just simply do not like, no less love. Our own families could
be the most challenging since they know us so well. They could be those family
members that may be away from the regular practice of the faith and just get
angry at us for being faithful to God and His commandments. It is in these
situations that God is calling us to return that hatred and anger towards us
with that of love that John speaks about. As the old saying goes, LOVE CONQUORS
ALL.
In our
gospel for today from St. Luke, we hear of Jesus returning to Nazareth and
going to the synagogue. He then reads from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.” The people were amazed when
he says that this scripture is fulfilled in their hearing. Here’s this man who
they knew from childhood proclaiming to be the fulfillment of this prophecy
from Isaiah. The gospel goes on to say that they were amazed at the words that
came from Jesus. As we know, eventually they have a problem accepting Him as
the long-awaited Messiah and proceed to have him crucified.
Our scripture
readings for today are teaching us two things: to always love God and neighbor
with our whole being, and we are to accept Jesus Christ as our savior and keep
his commandments in our daily lives. Jesus is always to be at the center of how
we live our lives.
As we live out
our faith daily, let us pray not only for ourselves that we may remain faithful
to our love of God and his commandments, but let us pray for those people who
reject God for whatever reason that they may come into relationship with God and
to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be
Jesus Christ, now and forever!
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteAMEN.
It is good to know that the LOVE we must demonstrate toward all people is different from what is commonly the human, worldly definition. Most of the time the human concept refers to warm & affectionate feelings. So when people "rub us the wrong way", we may be inclined to feel guilty when we don't have "warm fuzzy feelings" & delight in being in their company.
I suspect that Our LORD apparently did not have "warm, fuzzy" & affectionate feelings for those members of the scribes, Pharisees, & Saducees that were rigid, legalistic, & hypocritical & oppositional toward Him at every turn, & He had strong words against their behavior. But His will was always for their conversion & their salvation & He proved His love for them in the ULTIMATE PROOF of LOVE: He SUFFERED & DIED ON THE CROSS FOR THEM & offered His sacrifice of love for them & their potential salvation as much as He did for His most beloved disciples.
So the love that Our LORD commands us to have for everyone, including those who "rub us the wrong way", and even our worst enemies who do us harm, is NOT A FEELING BUT A DECISION & THE ACT OF OUR WILL. No matter what they do or how we feel about them, we are supposed to will what is good for them, especially their conversion and salvation, & whenever possible we need to do what we can to help them when they are in need, do what is good for them, and pray for their good & especially for their conversion and their salvation.
It is interesting that you referred to Our LORD quoting the passage that from the prophet Isaiah that the Spirit of the LORD was upon Him. LOVE is a fruit of the HOLY SPIRIT. The HOLY SPIRIT, always present in the Church, is given to us at Baptism & Confirmation & is given & available to all believers. The HOLY SPIRIT is given to us so that we can do what GOD asks and requires us to do that we cannot do in our human abilities & strength alone. So when we encounter people whom we find difficult to love, we can & should call upon the HOLY SPIRIT to help us & then it will not being a matter of our loving people on our own, but the LORD, by His HOLY SPIRIT, living & working in us to demonstrate the love--even the sacrificial love--we are called to have.