Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 - Tuesday after Epiphany, or Jan. 8
[1 John 4:7-10 and Mark 6:34-44]In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. [1 John]
The letters of John and the Gospel of John use the word "Love" a lot. Today's passage from the First Letter of John is an example, and a familiar one at that because the words, "God is love" appear in it. These show up in all kinds of ways from framed cross-stitch to the signs in front of churches. But there is a kind of sequence of love involved which is important.
The sequence begins with God who loves us first ("God so loved the world....John 3:16, which sometimes appears on banners at athletic events). If God loves all those whom he has created, then we must love one another if only because they are "of God" and we can't deny God within them if we claim to believe in God! This is really the primary Christian challenge which Pope Francis is trying to preach. To love someone else for God's sake requires mercy and forgiveness of the kind that God extends. We humans can always find examples of persons that we find completely unloveable! I hear this line often: "Do I have to love (so-and-so)?" This is especially true about forgiving them. Love cannot be separated out from forgiveness and mercy.
Yes, God started all this and from what we know of Jesus' teaching, we are expected to continue that love. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
90 ms
4
