This is How to Love!
Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR
Homily for 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A
St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, CA
Sunday, May 21, 2017
The Penny Catechism Book, Part II, Question Number 14, asks, “Why did God make us?” And the answer given is, “God made us to know him, love him, serve him, and to be happy with him forever in Heaven.” This explains that the very purpose of our very existence is to know, love and serve God; everything else we do—studying, working, raising a family, retiring, serving, being served, etc. should serve this very purpose. We realize our purpose and essence of life by knowing, loving and serving the Lord. We derail and stray when we do none of it. So, if there’s anyone out there who still questions or wonders what his or her purpose of life is, I hope you have your answer.
In today’s gospel, (John 14:15-21), Jesus injects two of the purposes of life (love and serve God) in his farewell speech to his disciple and then connects them: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Keeping his commandments is the same as serving him. But guess what those commandments are? Love Jesus and his brothers and sisters! Sometime ago, I told a friend that in a traditional African society, the expression “I love you,” is rarely used. My friend asked me, “Then how do you know that someone loves you?” I replied, “You know by the way they treat you.”
Jesus demonstrated his love for his Father by his obedience, and it is by obedience that we are to demonstrate our love for him. Love is not merely an emotion but a moral expression revealed in obedience. We know there are people who profess love in words but at the same time, bring pain and heartbreak to the same people they claim to love. There are young people who say they love their parents, but cause them sorrow, anxiety and sleeplessness. There are husbands who say they love their wives and wives who say they love their husbands, but through their inconsideration and thoughtless unkindness cause pain and grief to the very one they claim to love. To Jesus, love is a reality demonstrated only in true obedience.
What do we do to those we love? We try to have their best interest in mind. We try to make them happy. We try to avoid anything capable of destroying or impacting our relationship with them negatively. And if we are geographically separated from them we strive to stay in touch with them by telephone, email, social media etc. And when time permits, we visit. That’s what Jesus expects from us. If we love him, we will cherish him above all else and make effort to keep his commands. But does this mean that every time we sin we do not love him? Anytime we commit sin we love something or someone else more than we love Jesus. Loving Jesus entails changing our lives, our lifestyles, reforming our lives, working on our personalities and characters, stretching ourselves to cooperate with his grace. Loving Jesus requires putting him first, second and third before anything or anybody. Loving Jesus is making daily efforts to overcome and eliminate any form of sin no matter how small it is. Galatians 5:24 say, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” St. Paul loved Jesus so much to the point of declaring, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). St. Peter loved the Lord that when Jesus asked him thrice, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He confidently replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you” (John 21:17).
Now, the command to love Jesus and keep his commandment is not an easy task. Anyone who tells you it is easy is probably not observing it. Jesus himself knew it is not going to be easy, hence, he promised to send us the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you.” Jesus knows that keeping his commandments is not going to be an easy ride for us, so he promised, “I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.”
