WHAT IS LOVE?

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Ex.22: 20 – 26/ Ps. 18:/ 1 Thes.1:5-10/ Mt. 22: 34 – 40

What is love? A simple question yet a very complicated reality. No one in this world even from among the great minds has successfully captured its meaning. Love is complicated because each human being has his own answer, his own experience.

True enough, Jesus was also aware of this question even during his time. His ancestors have defined what love was. Yet in our Gospel today, Jesus gives a direct answer to the question, What is love? Love is the total self –giving of the lover to his beloved. When our Lord said, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all yours soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He was simply telling the people what true love is – selfless and not selfish, all and not partial. And this love was perfectly seen at Calvary and completed at the empty tomb.

St. Paul in our second reading today affirms the Thessalonians of their ministry. “For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.” This is another characteristic of love. Love is a mission. If love is the total self – giving of the lover to his beloved then it is primarily missionary! There is a movement from the inside to the outside, from the self to the other. It is not love if it remains hidden, if it is kept alone and in isolation. Jesus did not remain in heaven. He became man. He did not hide in Nazareth. He preached the Kingdom, cured the sick, feed the hungry, and raised the dead in both Jewish and Gentile lands.

Since love is a mission, to whom then shall we reach out? Human as we are we only love those who are lovable; those who share our principles; and those who always do us a favor. The unlovable, the indifferent, and the traitor have no place in our loving. However, our first reading today from the book of Exodus tells us of the recipients of our loving, the goal of our mission. “You shall not oppress an alien. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. You shall not act like an extortioner to your poor neighbors.” As mentioned earlier, our loving should be selfless and not selfish, all and not partial. Thus, the recipients of our love should also include and even give importance to the last, least, and lost in society. Our love should embrace our enemies, those who all the while have loved us but in the end betrayed us.  

And just as going to a mission land involves pain and suffering, a missionary kind of loving also involves pain and suffering. It is not easy to love that person who has broken his promise. It does not give us comfort to love that person who has hurt us not only once but a hundred times. Missionary loving is always painful because as you give your all to your beloved you are never given an assurance that he/she will also give his/her all. Thus, we draw inspiration from Our Lord who has given his all and continues to give his self to us even until today; no matter how unfaithful and ungrateful we are. God’s love like the sun continues to brighten our sad days and gives warmth to our cold existence.

What is love? A simple question yet a very complicated reality. No one in this world even from among the great minds has successfully captured its meaning. Yet every time we think of God even for a split second amidst a very busy day, that is love. Every time we tap the back of a crying brother, that is love. Every time we hold on to our promises and remain honest to our neighbor, that is love. And every time we forget ourselves for the sake of the other, that is love, Christian love.