Love is the Answer
Our Lord Jesus’ response to the question raised by the Sadducees is not unfamiliar to us: ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbour as yourself’. It’s easy to say that we do. But in these times, it seems we find more reason not to love our neighbour, let alone love God above all else. With all the violence around us, war, crime, misinformation, hate to name a few; to love our neighbour may seem to be a daunting task, a complex ideology. When people find themselves, or the ones they love, victims of senseless violence or having a terminal illness, or experiencing life altering misfortune, loving God seems to be the last thing that comes to mind, the last thing to ponder in their hearts. How, then, do we heed our Lord’s call to love.
In his first letter, St. John affirms that ‘God is Love’ (1 John 4:7-21). We should ‘love one another, because love comes from God.’ St. John reminds us that ‘God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven’. Despite our sinfulness, God loves us unconditionally. And so that we may love and live our lives in union with God, he gave us his Spirit.
The lyrics of the song ‘Love is the Answer’ (England Dan and John Ford Coley) tells us to ‘love one another’ – when we’re afraid, when we’re lost, alone, far from home, down and out, hopeless, needing a friend, and near the end. Our fears, our worries, and our anxieties are all driven by fear. In love, there is no fear. God’s love sets us free – free from sin, free from fear. With this freedom, we are able to love God above all, and love our brothers and sisters as our selves.
Finally, St. Paul tells us ‘I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains – but if I have no love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2).
Blessed Sunday to you all.
Randy Reyes
