Love – Mission Impossible?

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Reflection for 6th Easter Sunday, year B1

Modern man is more sensitive to the action of love than to forces.

Fr. Stefan Wyszyński

A lot is said and written about love. That it drives life, gives wings, is an inspiration for poets, a source of strength in human relationships. The love we hear about, read about, see in human works, it can be beautiful or terrible, it can be noble and unworthy, it can be possible or unreal, passionate or platonic. It is also possible to experience love or never meet it.

Jesus paid much attention to love. He was talking about a God who is love. About God’s beautiful love for people, which brings joy, is faithful, full of peace, depth and tenderness. He associated it with the principles of life and ethics of conduct. To people who made cheap goods out of love, he spoke calmly, but definitely that they should get out of the way, because their actions did not lead to the truth. To those who got lost on its paths in moments of betrayal or inability to respond to it with reciprocity, he explained it anew, patiently, showing by deed and gesture what love is the most perfect.

When Jesus says, “Love one another as I have loved you,” he adds: “I chose you, that you should bear fruit.” He says we are his friends, not his servants. He wants us to know His intentions and plans, and to participate CONSCIOUSLY.

Jesus therefore asks us – his disciples – for responsibility and wisdom in making love choices. He connects her with the commandments.

This can be irritating.

Because, as we know, a lot is written and heard about love. About free and informal love, about relationships without a relationship, about relationships for a while and without consequences, about making love in everyone, with everyone, in every way. Best without rules, because love is free, free, you can express it as you like, live it according to your desires. And it’s often best not to get God involved. My love, my business.

It is enough to look at poetry, contemporary prose, films to notice that there is a promotion of love that has little to do with love, which is God.

People who fight for the good name of God of Love, who talk loudly about the need to return to the source of every good relationship with others, are often paid for it with incomprehension, sometimes even depriving them of the right to vote, the right to free action or even living according to the theory of love God.

Jesus asks us and even commands us to love one another responsibly. To try to achieve unity, try to understand the heart of God, who loves us always faithfully, deeply, to the limit – right to the cross.

People who are gifted to love like this are considered saints, extraordinary, brave, and sometimes insane. With their longing eyes on Jesus, immersed in his Word, rooted in his good, effective methods of loving others, they can live as if there was a paradise on earth.

Mutual love, based on commandments and a relationship with Christ, is capable of forgiveness, overcoming any difficulties, changing oneself and others. Without such a relationship, the world becomes an unbearable place.

When I think about what Christians can and cannot do out of mutual love, I think the entire church is losing potential. Without love, we are like barren land. How much we sow, how much we watered, nothing will grow except grass. Love is for our weary hearts like a nourishing fertilizer, like a refreshing blast of wind on a hot day. It helps us get up from every fall, overcome difficulties, believe in the future and in people. Without it, the community of believers turns into a group without purpose and without spirit.

Bearing fruit and being in love means for me to undertake a special mission every day: LOVE LIKE GOD! This is an IMPOSSIBLE mission. Man cannot love like God, and yet Jesus invites you to do so. He invites us as friends, leading us to perfection. The question is, do we want to listen to Him or maybe we prefer our easier ways of love …

Jesus invites us. Maybe it is worth starting over?

Love, especially when you fail.

Love even though they betrayed you.

Love when nobody understands you.

Love anyway.

Love to transform yourself and others.

Love to bear witness of Me.

Love me faithfully and take Me in your heart to another person.

Trust Me.

And I’ll take care of everything…

***

How sweet is the way of love. It is true that you can fail hard, you can commit infidelity, but a love that can turn everything to its advantage will in the blink of an eye wipe out anything that may displease Jesus, leaving only humility and deep peace at the bottom of the heart. (St. Teresa of Lisieux)

When love overwhelms someone, it turns them into what they love. (St. Augustine)

Where there is no love, all the resources of virtue are a useless pile of stones. (St. Francis de Sales)

The less goods you have, the more you can give back, the more you have, the less you will give back. So if you ask in prayer, ask for courage and give it of yourself, give until it hurts. We call this kind of giving love. (St. Teresa of Calcutta)

Patience is an everyday form of love. (J. Ratzinger)