LOVE BEARS EVERYTHING
1 Sam 26:2, 7-9,12-13,22-23; 1 Cor 15:45-49; Lk
6:27-38 (7 C)
“Naked from his mother’s womb a man
comes; as naked as he will depart again”
What makes Christians different from any other
religion? It is grace - treating others, not as they deserve, but as God wishes
them to be treated with loving-kindness and mercy. God is good to the unjust as
well as the just. His love embraces saints and sinners alike. “God is Love” (1
Jn 4:8,16). God granted the people of Israel a king even though they were in
outright rebellion with God that they wanted a king. And God blessed them with
a king. God accommodated situations that were not his original ideal and even
blessed people in non-ideal stations of life. David said to King Saul who was
trying to kill him, “I have plenty of reason to kill you, and it would have
been simple for me to do so, but it would have been the wrong thing for me to
do since God has chosen you to be king” (1 Sam 24:3).
From the cross, Jesus forgave his persecutors,
“Father forgive them for they do not know what they do” (Lk 23:34). Jesus
exhorts us to “Be merciful, just as our Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36). The
vicious cycle of hatred can only be stopped by people who are determined to
love. Faith expresses it through love (Gal 5:6) and whoever loves others
fulfills the law (Rom13:8). Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10) and
the entire law is fulfilled in keeping one command: love your neighbor as
yourself (Gal 5:14). Paul wants us to let go of “rules” possessing the spirit
of Christ (Rom 8:9).
All of us have our battle stories. Perhaps, some of
us have let bad situations become worse by taking a shot back against those
unjust aggressors in our lives. How important is that grudge we hold? When we die,
we can only take with us our capacity to love. From cell, St. Thomas More
forgave King Henry VIII for destroying his reputation and his life. The greatest
gift to happiness is rejecting hatred. Those who are tied to God find peace. Only
the cross of Christ can free us from the tyranny of malice, hatred, revenge,
and resentment. And that gives us the courage to return evil with good. Such
love and grace have the power to heal and save us from destruction. That is why
Paul tells us to “bless and not curse nor take revenge and to overcome evil
with good” (Rom 12:14,17,21).
Cardinal Newman wrote: “O Jesus! Help us to spread
your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a
radiance of yours (...). That every soul we come in contact with may feel your
presence in their soul. May the light, O Jesus, shine on others through us”. We
can love, forgive, and accept others when our hearts magnify in the love of God.
The love of Jesus does not count the degree or category rater loves without
boundaries.
“We brought nothing into the world and
can take nothing out of it”.
No comments:
Post a Comment