Love is the
focus of John’s gospel for the 6th Sunday of Easter. There are many
things one might say about love—whether human or divine—but two aspects are
prominent in this gospel message. One is
the closeness with another that love always seeks. When we love someone, we want to be close to
that person. We want a physical,
spiritual and emotional bond that melts our two hearts into one. We want to spend time with them, talk with
them, get to know them if we don’t already, and share our time and our life with
them. Closeness is what we want most of
all when we love someone. This does not
always happen, we know, but this is the experience most of us want—to be
physically, spiritually and emotionally close to the one we love. This closeness is what Jesus refers to when he says to
those who love him, “I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”
The other
aspect of love highlighted in John’s gospel is the idea that love thrives on
the hope that it will be reciprocated. Above all, we 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, including
our relationship with God. This hope is
what motivates Jesus to say to his disciples, "If you love me, you will
keep my commandments.” The sign of our love that Jesus looks for is to see whether we keep his commandments to
love God and our neighbor.
This gospel shows that God wants the same two things when it comes to love. Because God loves us, he desires to be close
to us both in spirit and in body, and to have his love returned (Hos 6:6). 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 share our life
and 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?
By imploring us
to remain in his love, Jesus is asking us to return his love; he wants us to
love him back. This is the reason behind
the two great commandments of love for God and neighbor (Jn 15:10). This is how others will know that we are his
disciples. And, the Apostle John reminds
us that we must not give lip service to these commandments. Rather, we must love in deed and in truth (1
JN 3:18). Actions—not words--is the
guiding principle in loving God back.
We already know what actions this involves. Jesus proved his love for us to the greatest
extent by giving his life for our sake, and now he wants his love returned in a
similar way. He wants us to give our
lives in service to God and to neighbor.
Jesus is our model. We would do
well to imitate him 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. In
the words of Isaiah, this is the service that the Lord chooses, a service that includes not turning our backs on our own flesh
and blood (Is 58:7).
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 love and
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). Whatever we do for the least of his children,
we do for him. There is no other way to put it. We love God back by
taking care of what he loves most—his children and his creation.
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