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Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live  (Read 169097 times)

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Offline cassini

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Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live
« Reply #105 on: May 23, 2025, 05:03:46 AM »
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    • Fr Sean again.                                       
     Love Requires Faith
                Jesus tells us as we begin this week that whoever loves Him will be true to His word and whoever doesn’t love Him won’t be true to His word (Jn 14:23-29). If we aren’t true to His word we don’t love Him. To be true to Jesus’ word means to lovingly obey His Commandments and live the eight Beatitudes. So we need to reflect on the notion of love and what it entails. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ve fallen out of love with my wife/husband?” What causes a person to “fall out of love?” Love isn’t something we “fall” into or out of. Love is a spirit or an attitude that motivates us to invest our life in another. It is a free action in which a person commits himself or herself to another person without counting the cost. The cost is the sacrificing oneself for the good of the other. It doesn’t just happen. You don’t wake up one morning and suddenly realize, “I’m in love,” or “I’m not in love.” It is founded on faith in oneself and in the one whom the person chooses to love. Without faith, not just natural faith but supernatural faith, love doesn’t last.

     Kinds of Love
                There are three kinds of love: Erotic, Filial, and Agape. Erotic love is the bonding that takes place or the spirit that is shared between people who are romantically involved with one another. Romantic love has much more to do with the imagination than with reality. This kind of love is given to hyperbole and it doesn’t last. It is the shallowest kind of love. In romantic love the lover forms his or her own image of the beloved which does not always reflect who the beloved really is. I can easily be a false image created out of infatuation. Someone said that  on its own, erotic love is like a flower that opens its petals in the morning but withers in the heat of the sun of reality by evening time.
     
    Filial Love
                The second king is filial love which is the spirit or attitude that binds people together as friends. This love is based on mutual trust and respect. The development of filial love is essential if romantic love is to have a healthy future. Without filial love, people can’t be friends, and without friendship, erotic love is doomed from the beginning.
     
    Agape Love
                The third kind of love is Agape or Sacrificial love. This is the highest kind of love without which forgiveness is impossible. Why? This kind of love comes directly only from God and is unconditional. Jesus demonstrated agape on the Cross. The Crucifix is the visible sign of Agape love which is always sacrificial. Jesus, through His Catholic Church, calls each of us to practice this kind of love. Marriage calls for this kind of love from husbands and wives.  Sacrificial love goes beyond friendship. How? This is the love Jesus talked about when He said: “No greater love does anyone have than to lay down one’s life from one’s friends” (Jn 15:13) and  “You must love your enemies.” (Mt 5:44). Neither erotic nor filial love motivates a person to die for others. This kind of love desires the best for the person, even if he or she hates you or tries to destroy you. Agape love is necessary for sacrificial love. Sacrificial love is impossible without God. Without Agape love friendship won’t last. Why? Friendship won’t grow without forgiveness and generosity. Why? We’re all flawed and there are always disappointments or obstacles we must overcome if the friendship is to continue and grow. Forgiveness is essential. When someone sins against us, at least in that action or moment, he or she is our enemy. So when we sin against our friend, in that action or in that moment we become his or her enemy.

    Choice Rather than Feeling
                Agape love does not rely on feeling or the heart. Rather it comes from the will. It’s not something we must “feel” before we do it. It’s something we freely decide to do. In the process of choosing to do it we experience a change of heart. Romantic love comes from the heart – it has to do with feeling and it influences how a person views another. Filial love also comes from the heart and influences a person’s view of another as a friend. Agape comes from the will to do the greatest good known through reason and divine revelation, and in the process influences how we feel and how we act.

    Love's Foundation
                What is love based on? Love is a bonding emotion that connects us in human relationships. The basis for all relationships is faith empowering us to trust. All love presumes trust and cannot exist without it. There’s no trust without faith and there’s no love without trust, therefore faith is the basis for love. When people say they “fall out of love” with someone, they are talking about step two instead of step one. They don’t “fall out of love.” Rather their love for the other ceases because they stopped having faith in or believing in one another. When faith deteriorates so does trust. The person “falls out of love” because he or she ceases to have faith in the other person. In Hebrews 11 we read that “Faith is constant assurance concerning what we hope for and conviction about things we do not yet see.” Assurance concerning what we hope for is dependent on whether we can trust the one we love to help us attain that hope. If we see that the other person’s word isn't reliable our faith in him or her dies. Our Catholic faith is based on our acceptance of Jesus' word as trustworthy helping us attain the hope of eternal happiness. This is the basis for our love of Jesus. If we accept Christ’s word, it is logical that we would also accept Christ Himself. Faith comes through hearing and hearing comes through listening to the word that is believable.

    What's Jesus Saying to Us?
                This 6th Sunday Jesus says to us through His Church: “If you love me keep my word, and my Father will love you, and we will come to you and make our dwelling with you.” Here we see Jesus linking love and faith together. We can’t love Jesus without believing His word and having faith in Him. If we have faith in Him, we must love Him. We can’t not love what we have faith in. That would be unreasonable. The person who believes Jesus’ word and has faith in Him will love Him. Faith and love together make a person receptive to Jesus’ gift of peace. Peace is always based on justice. Justice is the foundation for peace. They are partners. Without justice, peace is impossible. Many people are desperately seeking peace within themselves and with one another. However, that sought-after peace very often escapes them. Why? They never ask about justice. They don’t listen to Jesus’ commandments and obey them. Justice calls for doing what is right. What is right is that which is in accord with the will of God. Jesus has revealed God’s will to us. However, if we don’t believe Jesus’ word and trust in Him, we won’t love Him and benefit from His love. We can pursue peace forever but only Jesus can give us the peace the world can’t give. To benefit from Jesus’ peace we must live our life according to His word, not ours. Then we will experience what Jesus is talking about when he says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” This is the peace that comes from loving Jesus based on keeping His word are the lens through which we see and do everything. Love based on faith generates hope which in turn gives us peace of mind, heart and soul. (fr sean)
             
    Something To Ponder
    If you woke up this morning with more health than illness - you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
    If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation - you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
    If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death - you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
    If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep - you are richer than 75% of this world.
    If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace - you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
    If you can read this message - you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
    So: Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching. Sing like nobody's listening. Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
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    Offline cassini

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    Re: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live
    « Reply #106 on: Today at 12:44:01 PM »
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    • Fr Sean again. 
    The Ascension: An End and a Beginning

      The Nepalese poet, Santosh Kalwar, wrote in his book, “Quote Me Every Day,” “Every beginning has an end and every end has a new beginning, don’t worry, broken soul, life will one day come to an end.” Everyone knows that his or her life that began in the womb will end one day but Christians know that while life on earth ends they also know it will have a new beginning in Heaven that is endless. Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven marked the end of His visible presence on earth offering men and women salvation from their sins. It also marked the beginning of His Church as the visible sign on earth through which He continues to offer salvation to men and women until the end of time. The Ascension marked an end of His physical presence on earth and the beginning of His Sacramental presence giving everyone the opportunity to unite with Him in His Church if they so choose.

    Jesus’ Ascension

      Jesus’ Ascension occurred forty days after His Resurrection to assure His Apostles and disciples that it was really Him. “In the time after His suffering He showed them in many convincing ways that He was alive, appearing to them over the course of 40 days and speaking to them about the reign of God” (Acts 1:3). Jesus was preparing His Apostles to promote His mission after His return to His Father, when in His Name they would continue to call men and women to repent and reform their lives by becoming God’s children through the power of the Holy Spirit. He promised them that, “within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit … then you will be my witnesses … yes, even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:5, 8). After telling them this, Jesus “was lifted up and a cloud took Him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). The end of Jesus’ human ministry sparked the beginning of His ministry through His Church bringing His faith, hope and love to all nations until He returns. The Church is Jesus’ body and His witness to what He has done, is doing now, and will continue to do, namely offer hope to human beings to be lifted up from the pit of sin, suffering and death to the heights of grace, joy and glory. Through His Catholic Church Jesus remains active in the world as its only Saviour.

    Ending Vice and the Beginning of Virtue

      Suffering and death are the bane of humanity. They’re the result of Adam and Eve’s sin, as well as our own personal sins. To put an end to these and offer a new beginning Jesus commissioned His Apostles that “In His Name, penance for the remissions of sins is to be preached to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem” (Lk 24:47). It’s in the act of repentance and seeking God’s forgiveness that we are being saved in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “And you, O child, shall be called prophet of the Most High; for you shall go before the Lord to prepare straight paths for Him, giving His people a knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins” (Lk 1:76-77). Jesus is the Forgiver who reconciled humanity and divinity in Himself as both God and man in one Person. An old saying reminds us that “to err is human but to forgive is divine.” You and I cannot forgive without God’s grace. Forgiveness is always a sign of God’s Spirit at work in the human heart. This is the great gift Jesus brought to the world and He commissioned His Church to continue offering it especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).

    An End and a Beginning in Us

      Forgiveness marks an end and the beginning of a new outlook in our life where the darkness of sin gives way to the bright light of God’s mercy. St. Paul’s plea to God was for all of us when he prayed: “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, grant you a spirit of wisdom and insight to know Him clearly. May He enlighten the eyes of your mind that you can see the great hope which His call holds for you” (Eph 1:17-18). The great hope is the opportunity to repent and obtain forgiveness for our sins. God has made that possible because, “He has put all things under Christ’s feet and has made Him, thus exalted, head of the Church, which is His body; the fullness of Him who fill the universe in all its parts” (Eph 1:22). In Jesus’ Church we’re privileged to know “how infinitely great is the power that He has exercised for us believers” (Eph 1:19) through His Church. He has eased the fear of death by promising to prepare a place for each of us and then return to take us there when we die, if we die believing in Him. “I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I shall come back to take you with me, that where I am you may be too” (Jn 14:3).

    Ends and Beginnings in Life

      We experience lots of ends and beginnings in life but the most important ones are when we experience the power of Jesus in His Church’s Sacraments, especially in the Holy Mass – the end of the old relationship with Jesus and the beginning of a new one with Him. We must not keep this secret from everybody else. Jesus calls and prepares us in Confirmation to be His public witnesses in the world where we live. This witnessing doesn’t make us superior; rather it makes us humble because we know we’re unworthy to represent Jesus Christ. But we do it because Jesus asks us and the world needs it. The glory of God is man and woman fully alive. We can’t be fully alive unless we view the end of something as a call from God to begin anew by making the most of the present opportunities to look forward to a bright future. Death ends life on earth but it makes the beginning of life eternal. (fr sean)


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