The Fire Of His Love

One of my favorite sets of Sunday readings comes in a couple of weeks during the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Gospel of John is especially poignant. Over the years I have spent many hours meditating on various parts of that reading, always finding new insights, new material to ponder. Of particular interest is the phrase “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” I have had many varied insights to what that means for me and I have given a homily on those thoughts. But this time Jesus’ emphasis on love is what affected me the most.

“Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus says this more than once in that reading. “No one has any greater love than this than to lay down one’s life for ones friends.” “As the father loves me so I also love you.” In the second reading from that Sunday in the letter of John, he says, “God is love.” He further says “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.”

How much more clearly can the message of the Gospel be stated? I think of the Beatles song “All you need is love.” Love is all you need. It is such a simple command and yet so difficult to follow.

When we ask Jesus “what can I do to show your love for me? He answers “keep my commandments.” When we hear this, our mind tends to think of the Ten Commandments. Have I broken any of them? Have I done anything wrong? But Jesus isn’t talking about doing something wrong or harmful. Instead he is telling us to do something positive. To love one another.


Jesus doesn’t list the Ten Commandments so we can check them off one by one and say, “Yes, I have complied with that.” Instead, he calls for a more expansive commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Can we ever say that we have lived up to that commandment? When can a husband or wife say “There, I have loved you, there is nothing more I can give or do for you.” It just can’t be done.

Love is a fire that consumes us, that needs to consume us, that leaves us looking for ways to love more unconditionally, to love more fully. That is why we need the Holy Spirit, to enable us to experience God’s love and then find ways we can best express it to others. I think of the Prayer to the Holy Spirit. “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love.” That fire of love can leave us vulnerable but it is, oh, so powerful.

If only we could have the love of Jesus in our hearts all the time, think of how this world would be a better place. How our homes would be more tranquil. How our world would be more peaceful.

So why is it so difficult to show our love to those we care about the most? Why do we have disagreements with our spouses that can inflame into feelings so opposite of love? Why do we argue with our brothers and sisters over matters so unimportant? Why would we give one of our children a hard time. Jesus said, he would lay down his life for those he loves, and he did. And yet, there are so many times that we wouldn’t lift a finger for a friend or a loved one.

But what if we saw Christ as the person we are talking to. If we saw Jesus in every person we met. Especially those we love. Would we argue with Jesus face to face? Would we deny the opportunity to help Jesus in any way we could – including something as small as doing the dishes?  Would we ignore someone at school, or even be nasty to them just because they were not part of our group. What if that person were Jesus in disguise. Could we ever deny Jesus.

May we always know that God is love. May we always follow Christ’s command to love one another. May we always see Jesus in the person we are speaking to. And may the Holy Spirit always inflame our hearts with the fire of His love.

Peace,
Deacon Greg Beckel