"God is love"
(1 John 4: 5)
Last week the word "remain" was repeated over and over
in the second reading and the Gospel. This week the
word is "love". In both his first letter and his Gospel,
John writes “love one another.” It is a command to all
Jesus´ disciples, from the apostles at the Last Supper to
all of us gathered around the table of the Lord today. To
love each other as we are loved by God is what we are
all called to do.
Today the focus of the readings is on others. Peter
preached to the Gentiles, people outside the Jewish
community, and was surprised that the Holy Spirit came
to them as well. John writes that we are to love one
another as God loves us. In the Gospel, Jesus challenges
his disciples to love one another as he loves them, that is,
with a self-sacrificing love. This, truly, is the love that
we are called to have for others.
In our society it is typical to think of love as a feeling,
the way we feel about a spouse, a parent, a child, a close
friend. Yes, this is love, but not the sense that Jesus is
using when he says, “Love one another as I love
you.”(John 15:12). Love in this sense is a permanent
condition, a part of our character; it can't help but flow
out of us when we interact with others. Remember,
Jesus began the Last Supper by washing the feet of the
disciples, telling them to do the same. This is the way we
are to love one another.
Jesus tells his disciples that "No one has greater love
than this, to lay down one's life for one´s friend." (John
15:13). Fortunately, most of us will never be faced with
actually putting our live on the line to save someone else.
Through the centuries we have many stories of
Christians who gave their lives for the salvation of others
like St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM who gave his life like
Jesus in exchange for the life of a stranger in a
concentration camp where they were confined.
Maximilian died so his neighbor, a stranger could live.
However, we can all accept the challenge of sacrificing
some part of ourselves, some of our money or our time -
to give our time and energy to help someone else. Think
about the early church where Peter came out of his
comfort zone and reached out to the house of Cornelius
and this led them to experience the fullness of the Spirit
that is communicated to all.
Fr. Hernán P., SJ