Sorry to all my readers for not having a reflection last week. I had a lot of Schoolwork to finish up so I decided to combine this week's reflection with last week's.
In the Gospel from the 26th, Jesus gives us the two most important commandments. The first is to Love God with our whole being. The second is to Love our neighbor has ourselves. Notice how the root of both commandments is Love. Love is the most important of virtues as it will never leave. The question now arises. What is Love? Several weeks ago I was talking about this very subject. I said that Love is any action that gives life. This life can be physical or spiritual so long as we are giving of ourselves in the very act of Love.
Now how does this apply to God? He is perfect and lacks nothing. How can we give life to God? The answer is actually quite simple. God gives us all that have. All that we are is from him. Therefore it is fitting that we should offer our lives to him in service. In this we are giving our lives back to God and living in communion with him, which is all he ever wanted.
Then comes our neighbor. Every other human being is a neighbor to us. We are all members of the same family, the human race, which makes us all Children of the same God. True Love of neighbor stems from Love of God. If we do not Love God then we can never truly love our neighbor. Likewise, if we do not Love our neighbor than we do not truly Love God.
That brings us to today's Gospel, where the Love of the Father for his children is demonstrated:
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”
For this is the will of the Father. He loves so much that he sent down his son to pay the price of Adam's sin. Whoever comes to the Son will be brought to Father. Nothing can separate us from the Love of the Father except for ourselves. It is like the parable of the Prodigal Son. The only thing that separated the Son from his Father was himself. The Father's love was so great for his Son that when he saw his Son returning he ran out to him, embraced him and kissed him as if no wrong had been committed. God always forgives. He will never reject those who come to him. There is only one sin that is unforgivable, and it is completely on us. We cannot be forgiven if we do not want to be. Therefore let us come to God and live in his love and mercy. Let us bask in the rays of his Glory and never be parted from him.
Hey, Ryan,
ReplyDeleteGood to have you back. Hope that you're caught up on your schoolwork.
Could your concept of "love" be extended to include the world around us? The Biblical account of God's instructions to Adam in the Garden of Eden is often translated as "have dominion" over all creatures. I prefer to think of it as meaning "take care." What do you think? When we mis-use or abuse natural resources are we showing "love" for the things with which God has endowed us? The Bible is clear on whom is our "neighbor."
Don't forget to vote!
I think you are dead on with referring love to things of nature. The dynamic of our relationship with nature changed after the fall. We are still called to protect her but the ways in which we use her have changed ex. the eating of animals. What must truly be avoided in this case is waste. When using natural resources it is essential that we use them for their correct purposes and we must honor the fact that God created all of them by never wasting them.
Delete