+ In the first reading, St. John continues his “discourse on
LOVE!” Today he emphasizes that loving God equals loving our brothers
and sisters – whom we can see. It is an invisible mandate that we are to follow,
for God in Jesus is invisible to us directly, but the point of the passage is
that, God is very present in the brother and the sister.
So, he tells us that if we say
we love God, but hate our brother or sister, then we are liars. The
commandments he gave us are all about being in good relation with those he puts
in our lives and in our paths each day. It is not therefore difficult to know
what God’s will is for us. All we need to commit ourselves is to doing it.
And how this all works is
this: faith. It is not just on the natural level that we are asked to be our
brothers’ and sisters’ keepers – but the supernatural one. Belief that there is
a beautiful and powerful love-dynamic that was instituted by God, for us to interact
with him on his own level is huge! And that all there is to it. Simple faith!
But probably the most difficult leap that any of us will ever have to make. But
once made – everything looks and feels, different. And the Kingdom of God has
already begun, even in this life.
In the gospel passage, Jesus
announces to the members of the synagogue, after reading a passage from Isaiah
about the liberating, healing, reconciliatory work of the Messiah, that He
Himself, in fact is this Messiah, this liberator, this healer, this reconciler.
And they were amazed at his words.
May we still reflect on with
the eyes of faith, this Messiah who was born into our world to make all the
difference for everyone: to be HOPE, and PEACE and LOVE in the flesh. And then
may we spend this day loving and caring for all we meet in some way or another,
and thus feel the effects of the Jesus-Love-Dynamic at work in us.
The Lord has sent you and me
to also bring good news to the poor, and to proclaim liberty to captives. Off
we go then, to seize the day with JOY!
No comments:
Post a Comment