Thursday, August 21, 2014

Fathoming God’s love

need to know the real essence of love, its true and
ultimate dimensions, its theoretical and practical implications, its
source, power and goal, its pattern, ways and manifestations.

            Though it is an endless exercise, it would always be
worthwhile since from that effort is derived everything that is true,
good and proper to us. Especially if done in earnest, such effort
generates vitality, health, meaning and joy in our life.

            As much as possible we should try to stay clear from an
understanding of love that is based only on feelings, instincts,
sensual urges, or on some social trends and fads that often trivialize
and distort love even as they make a lot of hype about it.

            Not even should we rely merely on some ideological,
philosophical or cultural and historical factors. They may give
something valuable, but if they are not grounded on the real source
and power, which is no other than God, they can mislead us.

            God, for sure, is everything that we need to go to not
only know but also live the true love meant for all of us. He is the
creator, the source of all things good and true, the very foundation
of reality.

            He is the very author of love who loved us first and
continues to love us no matter what. We can only love properly if our
loving is based on his, if it is inspired and energized by his. No
true love exists, much less, prospers, if it does not begin and end
with God.

            This love, in its fullness, has been revealed to us by
Christ. More than that, this love, again, in its fullness, is given to
us by Christ through the many instrumentalities he himself has left
us—his living word, his sacraments, the Church, etc.

            That is why he makes himself the standard of our loving.
“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I
have loved you…” (Jn 13,34) We should let these words to sink deep in
our mind and heart, making them the soul of our life.

            And how does Christ love us? Aside from the basic goodness
of creating us and endowing us with such great gifts that we have
become the masterpiece of God’s creation, he has forgiven us our sins
by assuming all our sinfulness and dying to it to rise from it.

            In this way, he gives us the means to liberate ourselves
from our sinfulness. It is for us to die with Christ so that we too
will rise with him. Our death should not just be a matter of the
collapse of our vital organs. It has to be a death with Christ. We
have to be more attentive to the religious dimension of death than to
its physical aspects.

            And that means we have to love God and everyone else all
the way, in spite of all. If we look at Christ closely, we know that
he was very compassionate with everyone. He gave special attention to
the sick, the deaf, dumb and lame. This is an attitude that we should
continually develop in ourselves.

            And more than those who were sick, Christ gave utmost
attention to sinners. He knew these were the ones who needed the most
of him, who needed what truly mattered in our life, our own eternal
salvation and joy with God in heaven.

            If we are interested in fathoming the love of God for us,
we have to examine ourselves and see the kind of attitude we have
toward those who may have offended us. This is where we can see
whether we have true love for God and for others.

            Does our reaction toward those who may have offended us
one way or another reflect Christ’s reaction toward sinners? Are we
quick to forgive and forget? Are we even willing to bear the
consequences of their misdeeds, yes, even all the way to the cross?

            This is the litmus test of our love. We have to be wary of
our tendency to pursue the cause of justice outside of the context of
charity. To be sure, justice without charity is not true justice. At
best, it may appear like justice, but it would end up only as a shell
without the substance.

            We need to remember that we have to distinguish between
the sin and the sinner. The sin, we have to hate, but the sinner, we
are obliged to love and to do everything to convert him into a saint.


No comments: