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It is easy to pick a theme from today’s readings. Love. That word is used nine times in our second reading and nine times in the Gospel. That is the easy part. The difficult part is what to say about it. What should I say that will change our lives, make us a little different when we leave this building? What do I want us to learn about love? But when I start thinking like that is where I get in trouble. You see that makes me the center of the Gospel, me the focus of this liturgy of the Word. The reality is it is not about what I want you to learn from these readings, it is what God wants us to learn from them. It is how God wants to touch and hopefully change our lives with His message. Realizing that takes a lot of pressure off of me!
First a little background. Our Gospel is from the 15th chapter of John and is part of Jesus’ long talk to His apostles at the Last Supper, as He prepared to be handed over to suffer and die. This was His last chance to be sure they were able to put together, connect, all the stories, all they had seen and heard for the last three years. These were the words of a dying man to his children to be sure that they knew he loved them and how he wanted them to live when he was gone. With that in mind think about one phrase: love one another as I love you.
How do we love one another in the face of opposition, misunderstanding, hostility and hatred? Yet this is what Jesus did and what He commanded us to do if we want to be His followers. But every instinct inside us works against this. Our sense of justice demands an eye for an eye, a giving back in kind, hatred for hatred, distrust for distrust. How do we handle opposition, misunderstanding, hostility and hatred?
Sometimes our response is paralysis. We get so aggravated by the opposition and its misunderstanding that we retreat. It is easier to hang up the phone or delete that email. We keep our ideals but no longer practice them in the presence of those who oppose us. We continue to speak love and understanding, but not to our enemies, whom we don’t exactly hate but just stay away from.
Sometimes our response is the exact opposite. In the face of opposition we develop a thick skin. We don’t care about what others think of us; let them think whatever they want. They can like it or lump it. We don’t have a problem. They do.
Or we can become very condescending. We believe that we are big-hearted enough to love those who oppose and hate us. But our love is based on a feeling of moral superiority: we can love them in their ignorance. Poor ignorant people, if only they knew better. This isn’t love but a superiority complex. That is not how Jesus treated people that hated him.
As Jesus was being executed he prayed: Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing. Not true! They knew exactly what they were doing, they were crucifying an innocent man. So why does Jesus say they were ignorant? Because they were ignorant of how much they were loved, but Jesus knew. Jesus was capable of continuing to love and forgive in the face of hatred because He knew who He was - the Father’s Son - and how much he was loved. That is what gave Him the power to forgive. We have access to that same power. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. Like Jesus, we too are God’s children and loved that deeply. Like Jesus, we too can be that forgiving, loving. And few things are needed more today in our families, the Village, our country, and the world.
Our challenge today is can we continue to love those who misunderstand us, who oppose us, who are hostile to us, who hate us, who threaten us - without being paralyzed, calloused or condescending?
This I command you: love one another.
First a little background. Our Gospel is from the 15th chapter of John and is part of Jesus’ long talk to His apostles at the Last Supper, as He prepared to be handed over to suffer and die. This was His last chance to be sure they were able to put together, connect, all the stories, all they had seen and heard for the last three years. These were the words of a dying man to his children to be sure that they knew he loved them and how he wanted them to live when he was gone. With that in mind think about one phrase: love one another as I love you.
How do we love one another in the face of opposition, misunderstanding, hostility and hatred? Yet this is what Jesus did and what He commanded us to do if we want to be His followers. But every instinct inside us works against this. Our sense of justice demands an eye for an eye, a giving back in kind, hatred for hatred, distrust for distrust. How do we handle opposition, misunderstanding, hostility and hatred?
Sometimes our response is paralysis. We get so aggravated by the opposition and its misunderstanding that we retreat. It is easier to hang up the phone or delete that email. We keep our ideals but no longer practice them in the presence of those who oppose us. We continue to speak love and understanding, but not to our enemies, whom we don’t exactly hate but just stay away from.
Sometimes our response is the exact opposite. In the face of opposition we develop a thick skin. We don’t care about what others think of us; let them think whatever they want. They can like it or lump it. We don’t have a problem. They do.
Or we can become very condescending. We believe that we are big-hearted enough to love those who oppose and hate us. But our love is based on a feeling of moral superiority: we can love them in their ignorance. Poor ignorant people, if only they knew better. This isn’t love but a superiority complex. That is not how Jesus treated people that hated him.
As Jesus was being executed he prayed: Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing. Not true! They knew exactly what they were doing, they were crucifying an innocent man. So why does Jesus say they were ignorant? Because they were ignorant of how much they were loved, but Jesus knew. Jesus was capable of continuing to love and forgive in the face of hatred because He knew who He was - the Father’s Son - and how much he was loved. That is what gave Him the power to forgive. We have access to that same power. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. Like Jesus, we too are God’s children and loved that deeply. Like Jesus, we too can be that forgiving, loving. And few things are needed more today in our families, the Village, our country, and the world.
Our challenge today is can we continue to love those who misunderstand us, who oppose us, who are hostile to us, who hate us, who threaten us - without being paralyzed, calloused or condescending?
This I command you: love one another.