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.
Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 168991 times)