Sunday, 13 May 2012
Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year B
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:9-17.
As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Raymond - - -
Sent: Sunday, 13 May 2012, 9:53
Subject: As the Father has loved me
From: Raymond - - -
Sent: Sunday, 13 May 2012, 9:53
Subject: As the Father has loved me
AS THE FATHER
HAS LOVED ME........
“As the Father has loved me, so do I
love you.” Jesus compares his Father’s love for himself with his own love
for us. Who can fathom the depths of meaning in these words: “As the
Father has loved me, so do I love you.” Our growth in our belief in these
words and our understanding of them is almost a definition of our growth in our
Catholic Faith. “As the Father has loved me, so do I love
you.” These words don’t just give us a wonderful insight into the
love that the Son has for us, they also provide us with a wonderful inspiration
to respond to that love.
The Gospels give us many beautiful
examples of the love Jesus has for us. His very coming among us as man
and his laying down his life for us proclaims it most of all of course.
But every one of his miraculous healings speaks about it; and when he calls the
rich young man to leave everything and follow him we read that he “looks on him
and loves him”. We are told that He loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, and when Lazarus was sick his Sisters sent
word to Jesus that “He whom you love is sick”. And when Lazarus died and Jesus wept for him the crowds
were so struck by the sincerity of it that they said “see how he loved him!.” John too is described
for us as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Jesus’ love
for others was obviously then something that was more than just deep in his
heart; it was a thing that shone for all to see. It was like that “City
set on a hill” that he spoke about when he told us that our charity too should
be evident to everyone. The pagans used to say about the early Christians
“See how they loveone another”.
St Paul in his letters too, waxes
eloquent about Jesus love for us. He tells us that neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus for
us. And in the great Book of the Apocalypse the Risen and glorified
Christ, “Lord of Lords and King of kings” is described as “He who loves us”.
But all these descriptions of
Jesus’ love for us pale into insignificance when we come back again to consider
these words of Jesus himself comparing his love for us with his Father’s love
for himself. “As the Father has loved me, so do I love you.” My
love for you is just like my Father’s love for me.
This saying of Jesus takes us way
above all the human images; all the human descriptions; all the other natural
examples that even the gospels give us of Jesus’ love for us. “As the
Father has loved me, so do I love you.” This takes us into the very depth
of the life of the Blessed Trinity itself. This guarantees for us that
when Paul says: “we will be made participators in the divine nature” itself, he
is not just using a figure of speech but is telling us of a real elevation of
our human nature to a quality of life that is beyond words.
Truly “Eye has not seen, nor ear
heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to consider what God has
prepared for those who love him”. And truly indeed, “The sufferings of
this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to come”.
