Love

“Love – soft as an easy chair,” goes the old song.

This metaphor fits the concept of God’s love that many people have: a concept that is soft, a bit dusty, and nostalgic.

Today’s first reading (1 John 3:11-21) reminds us of what God’s love truly is.

The way we came to know love
was that he laid down his life for us...

God’s love is not an old sappy love song or a fuzzy old romantic movie.

God’s love is The Passion of the Christ – that’s how much God loves you and how much God loves me (unworthy sinner that I am).

But God’s not love is not just about what God does for us, as the rest of the above verse reminds us:

...so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

That may sound a little extreme and perhaps even impractical (on a number of levels). Very few of us may have the opportunity to take a bullet for someone else or to push someone out of the path of a speeding truck or subway train.

(Even so, I think this is a very important point for us to consider, because the opportunity to save another life can happen at any moment: on our way to work, on an airplane, in the mall, at school or even in church. How often do we hear of situations like these when suddenly lives are in danger or are actually being snuffed out because of something going wrong or because of madmen with weapons? How often have we heard of men and women risking their lives and saving the lives of others? How often have we thought that lives would have been saved if more people had risked their own? How often have we asked ourselves the question “What would I do?”)

The way we came to know love
was that he laid down his life for us;
so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters, however, is not just sacrificing ourselves heroically at a critical moment. Laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters can also be a vocational choice.

Laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters can be seen quite clearly in celibate vocations of Christian service, such as the Priesthood or the consecrated life.

Laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters should also be seen in the vocations of marriage and parenthood. Sadly, however, the vocations of marriage and parenthood are often infected by the selfishness of today’s culture: selfishness in the timing of marriage and childbearing, selfishness in spending time and spending money, selfishness regarding perceived emotional needs, and so forth. (Just to be clear, the world’s selfishness can also infect a celibate lifestyle – no one is safe.)

The way we came to know love
was that he laid down his life for us;
so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters, of course, is not just on the level of dramatic life choices (although our life choices need to reflect God's sacrificial love). It also extends to the little decisions we make every day.

As we go forward with our day and go forward in this new year, may we keep Saint John’s words ever in our minds and in our hearts, so that the love of God may thrive and grow within us at every opportunity.

The way we came to know love
was that he laid down his life for us;
so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

If someone who has worldly means
sees a brother in need
and refuses him compassion,
how can the love of God remain in him?

Children,
let us love
not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.