Scripture for meditation: John 4:7-10
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to me: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Scripture for reflection: John 15: 17
“This I command you: love one another.”
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen tells us: There are five ways in which a human can love others. The first is utilitarian love, which is directed to another because he is useful to us. “He can get it wholesale.”… The difficulty with this kind of love is that when the advantage is lost, the friendship no longer endures. The second kind of love is romantic love. This is the kind of affection we bear to another because of the pleasure that the other person gives us... One of the reasons why many modern marriages do not endure is that people do not marry a person: They marry an experience. They fall in love with an ecstasy or a thrill, loving the cake only as long as it has frosting on it. The third kind of love that one can have for another is democratic love, which is based upon equality under the law. Others are respected because they are fellow citizens; or their liberties are recognized, in order that ours, in their turn, may be recognized. The reason for contributing to the good of others is the expectation of a return good. Democratic love, however, functions only up to a certain point: it is often subtracted in competition, or else invalidated on the assumption that the other person is “not worthy” of our affection. Democratic love is often under a great strain during a political campaign as candidates call one another “cheap politicians.” There is no such thing as a “cheap politician.” The fourth kind of love, which has given much inspiration to poetry, is humanitarian love, which is love for humanity in general. One of the defects of this type of love is that it is love in the abstract, rather than in the concrete; it is love at a distance, rather than an immediate service… Dostoevsky makes one of his better characters describe the insufficiency of this type of love: “I love humanity but I wonder at myself, because the more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.” … Surpassing those four kinds of love is Christian love summarized in the words of Our Savior: “A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you”(John 13:34). What is new about this commandment? Did not the Old Law say,“Love one another”? Have not all ethical teachers through the centuries pleaded for altruism? What is new about it? Two things are new. First, the way Our Lord loved us, that is, to a point of self-sacrifice; second, it is new because it is a commandment. By making it a commandment, Our Divine Lord made a distinction between liking and loving. Liking is in the emotions, in the temperament, in the glands, in feelings, and over these we have little or no control. Loving, however, is in the will and, therefore, is subject to command. There are certain things we do not like, and we cannot help not liking them… For example, I do not like chicken. Instinctive reactions in us we cannot completely control, but by putting love in the will, we can control it, and even extend it to those whom we do not like. Love, then, is not a gush but a virtue; not a spasmodic enthusiasm, but an abiding relationship of service, affection, and sacrifice. (Love, Marriage and Children, as taken from: From the Angel’s Blackboard: The Best of Fulton J. Sheen, Liguori Publications, 1995).
Prayer: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage our hearts and strengthen our them in every good deed and word. Amen. (cf. 2 Thes. 2:16-17, taken from the May, 2012 Magnificat, Yonkers, NY).
My thoughts: I love reading the works of Fulton Sheen. His lines are filled with wisdom, with a light sprinkling of humor: “loving the cake as long as it has frosting on it”and “There is no such thing as a cheap politician.”The first line reminds me of a friend of mine who told me she thought the marriage vow should not say, “until death do us part,” but “until the man goes bald.” I’m serious. She did not see how she could love her husband once he went bald. I am happy to report that my friend has been married for 37 years, her husband has lost most of his hair, and she still loves him. The story does point out the kind of love Sheen is talking about. We are in a relationship for the long haul. For better or worse, in sickness and in health, not for as long as my beloved looks good or as long as my friend doesn’t ask too much of me. God loves us without limits. He takes us back when we stray; he loves us in our faults and sins, and he waits with open arms for us every single day of our lives. Sheen tells us Christian love must be like that. It must last past liking, past the icing, past the good times, and into the bad. We must never allow inconvenience, discomfort and even disliking to stop us from loving God’s people. We don’t have to love what they do, but we do have to love them, for they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our prayer to God:Today, let us smile at everyone we meet. Why not? It just might make our worlds a little more loving.
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