The Power of Christian Love

02-24-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. Julius Kundi

I cannot but totally agree with Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, A Jesuit Priest who maintains that human beings like other animals and plant species are also endangered. He revealed that what is threatening the survival of the human species in today's world is not nuclear and atomic bombs; it is the absence ofsomething more basic: love. That the unwillingness to love one another as God wants endangers the entire human civilization and existence on this planet earth.

The readings today seem to explain this above. They are linked together by one main theme: the power of Christian love, which has to be exercised in unconditional forgiveness. The readings also instruct us about the power to make choices: right or wrong when it comes to relating to others, especially those that hurt us. They also reveal that any right choice leads us to God, and the wrong ones break our relationship with Him and with one another. We learn from David who made the right choice respecting God’s anointed king by forgiving his offenses, while Saul continued to make the wrong choices,perpetuating his misery with his revenge.

St. Paul tells us how the “First Adam” made a wrong choice of disobedience, bringing death into the world, whereas Jesus, the “Second Adam,” made the correct choice of fulfilling his Father’s saving plan. The power to make the right choice always is revealed by Jesus the Christ in the gospel today as Hegives us what we often consider as revolutionary moral teaching, the Golden Rule of charity: "Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This Golden Rule, is amplified by a string of particular commands: "Love your enemies...Do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you and pray for those who maltreat you." These constitute the crux and the challenge of what it means to be a disciple: Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give to those who ask, do unto others, lend without expecting repayment, judge not lest you be judged.

For Jesus, love is a fundamental attitude that seeks another’s good. By asking us to love our enemies and to be merciful as God our Father is merciful, Jesus challenges us to love as God loves. Many biblical commentators have seen this as a shift from the familiar code of ethics, which states that an "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth". The Christian ethic is positive. It goes beyond “Thou shalt not…” to “Do …. ” There is the story of the man who appeared at the gate of heaven asking to be let in. St Peter asked him why he thought he should be let in. The man answered: “my hands are clean.” “Yes,” answered Peter, “but they are empty!’ Indeed being Jesus' discipline is not a call to be indifferent. We must get involved in the affairs of the world and transform them with our goodness. Jesus is asking us for more as he says "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” What is so special about that?

God loves us beyond our expectations, beyond anything we can possibly imagine. In response to God's love, we are to love as God loves, beyond expectations and with a depth beyond imagining. Therefore, in the celebration of the Holy Mass today, may God give us the strength to love as He wants. May we also in our daily interactions with others remember that "For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Grace and peace upon you!
Fr. Julius

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