Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 17, 2009 - Sixth Sunday of Easter
[Acts 10:25-26, 34, 35, 44-48; 1 John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17]]Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
I often see the last three words of the quote, "God is love," in homes in the form of a print on the wall or a pillow on a couch or knitted or embroidered in some fashion. I think it's a good idea to put those words where we can see them often. They are very reassuring insofar as God's attitude is concerned. However, there is a direct challenge involved that I doubt we stop to consider very deeply. Many of us are satisfied with the reminder that God is loving. But if we are not loving, how can we know that God is loving. I mean this in the sense that the experience of God's love depends largely on our own willingness to reach out both to God AND to neighbor. St. Thomas Aquinas uses the analogy of human friendship as the best image for understanding love of God. In a true friendship, we accept the other as they are and love them because they are good. Like us, they are God's children and beloved of God. The fact that some humans turn away from God does not make them less God's children any more than a human parent can erase parentage! I have found that analogy of friendship to be very comforting because I consider friendship to be one of the greatest blessings in my life and I am convinced that God's love comes to me most effectively in the sharing of life that comes with good friendship. Some of the saddest people I've ever encountered in my pastoral work and on retreats are people who have no one they can call "friend." They have many acquaintances. They may be very popular! But they confess to terrible emptiness because they don't think any of these people truly know and accept them for who they are. It is that "acceptance" that is the mark of healthy love and friendship. The words of the Letter of John offer us the opportunity to think about friendship in our lives as a source of experiencing God's love. They also offer us the chance to ask ourselves about our own relationship to God as a result of experiencing human love. The response could be the start of something new or gratitude for a blessing known and cherished. AMEN
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