The focus of today’s gospel is the love of God. There are many things one might say about love—whether
human or divine—but two are prominent in this gospel message. One is to say that when we love someone, we
desire to be close to that person. Love
always seeks an intense personal closeness—an emotional, spiritual and physical
bond—that melts the two hearts into one.
Closeness is what we want most of all when we love someone. We want to spend time with them, talk with
them, get to know them if we don’t already, and share our life with them. This does not always happen, we know, but
this is the experience most of us want—to be physically and emotionally close
to the one we love.
The other thing to say is that love thrives on the hope that it will
be reciprocated. We first and foremost want
those whom we love to return our love, to love us back, so to speak. We often look for signs in that regard. And, as long as those signs are there, we
feel satisfied in the relationship. A
failure to return love, on the other hand, is often the cause of much hurt and
disappointment in a relationship.
The gospel message for today shows that God is not different from
us in these two respects. Because he loves
us, God desires to be close to us both in spirit and in body, and to have his
love returned. God was not content to
remain hidden away in his heaven, unseen and unapproachable by us except in
spirit and prayer. Rather, his profound
love for us compelled him to send his only Son to live among us, to be one of
us, to be like us in every way.
During his life on earth, Jesus demonstrated in clear terms that our
relationship with God is an intense personal relationship of love, even insisting
that we call God “Daddy” in today’s lingo.
Jesus also made it plain that he loves the father by loving us. In fact, Jesus loves us in the same way that
the father loves him. For, he says to
his disciples, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love”
(Jn 15:9). The question is, how do we
remain in God’s love? How do we love God
back?
Jesus provides the answer when he asks us to keep his commandments. For he says to his disciples, if you keep my
commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love (Jn 15:10). This
is how others will know that we are his disciples. By imploring us to remain in his love, Jesus
is asking to have his love returned; he wants us to love him back. This is the reason behind the two great commandments
of love for God and neighbor. And, the
Apostle John reminds us that we must not give mere lip service to these
commandments. Rather, he insists that we
must love in deed and in truth (1 JN 3:18).
"Actions—not words" is the guiding principle in returning our love to God.
We know what those actions are.
Jesus proved his love for us to the greatest extent by giving his life
for our sake, and now he wants his love returned through service to God and
neighbor. He is our model. We would do well to imitate Jesus by feeding
the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick
and imprisoned, welcoming the stranger, and giving shelter to the homeless.
Our service does not end with taking care of bodily needs, however. We are also called to provide spiritual
care—to comfort others, to counsel others, to forgive others, to pray for the
living and the dead. All these very
ordinary deeds done in the name of Christ are true works of mercy. They are signs that we are returning our love
to God, and God will not fail to notice.
Jesus assures us that, whoever gives a cup of water to drink in his name
will have their reward (Mk 9:40).
During Lent, we often focus on caring for the needs of others. Three traditional practices associated with
Lent provide opportunity in that regard—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We usually think of almsgiving in terms of
giving money to the poor. According to
the Psalmist, "Blessed is he that considers the needy and the poor"
(Ps 40:2). Notice that the Psalmist says
“considers” rather than “gives” to the needy and the poor. This way of putting it suggests that anything
done to assist the needy and the poor out of genuine charity is
almsgiving. Thus, almsgiving includes
much more than giving money to the indigent.
Every deed carried out to benefit our neighbor in the name of Christ, no
matter how small, is almsgiving. How our
actions affect the poor are worth considering.
When it comes to prayer, Jesus is our first model. We read in Scripture that Jesus often went
out alone to a secluded place and prayed.
Rarely is the content of his prayer revealed to us. What we do know, however, suggests that
during his prayer Jesus spoke openly and honestly with his heavenly Father,
holding back nothing. Since he came to
do the Father’s will, we can be sure that he spent time in prayer discerning
what the Father might want. Sometimes
prayer is the only way we learn how to help others.
Almsgiving and prayer are two legs of a traditional Lenten
practice. The third is fasting. We usually think of fasting as giving up
something, a favorite food or treat. This is certainly appropriate. Vatican II in fact encouraged the renewal of
this practice, especially before celebration of the Easter Vigil. But, there are other ways of fasting. In a less dramatic way, for example, we might
give up criticizing or judging others.
The prophet Isaiah offers more insight into what it means to fast. Isaiah quotes the Lord when he says,
"This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every
yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the
homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on
your own" (Is 58:6-7).
Sometimes it is easier to help a stranger than our own. Lent is also a time to consider how well we
love those closest to us. They too need
our alms, prayers, and fasting.
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