LO
VE
You’ve probably seen this on postage stamps or Valentine
cards, but I think it’s based on a sculpture in Philadelphia. The sculpture is the centerpiece of a public
gathering area. I once visited the site,
and I was at once struck by the sheer amount of people who were gathered
there. It was a locus of activity, with
people talking, laughing, playing, and overall, enjoying life.
I doubt
that most of those gathered were Christian, and probably fewer still had an
understanding of the new commandment, but yet they all wanted to gather at a
sculpture that contains a word that is the foundation our faith: love. It gave me hope that authentic love can still
speak to our culture. Whether it is the
love of a husband for his wife, or of a mother for her children, or a
consecrated woman for the world that she embraces in her vow of chastity, love
has the capacity to communicate to another something of the beauty, nobility,
and dignity of being human. Love opens
the pathway in a person to encounter the living God.
In Sunday’s
Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment: love one another. As with all of Jesus’ words, He will
reinforce this teaching through His actions to let us know what exactly this
means: He will literally lay down His
life for His friends on the cross. Earlier in the reading, He announces that
now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified. It is hard to understand how the crucifixion
is the glorification of God. And yet, on
the cross, the true glory of God is unveiled, just as the veil in the temple
was torn in two: God so loved the world
that He sent His only Son, so that all who believes in Him might have eternal
life. The cross speaks definitively to
us that God has truly loved us to the end.
This is glory that defies the imagination, but more importantly, it is
the love that opens the pathway for humanity to be reconciled to the Father.
Jesus shows
us what love is and what love is capable of on the cross. And, lest we think that it is only God who
loves, He reminds us that all will know we are His disciples if we have love
for one another. As audacious as it
sounds, when we authentically love another person, we participate in the
redemptive work of the Son. We, through,
with, and in Christ, are capable of bringing many sons to glory.
Who has God placed in
your life that is in most need of love? How is God calling you to love them
- Sister M. Mediatrix, FSGM
- Sister M. Mediatrix, FSGM
Comments