Love is Holy
Matthew 5:1-12,
1 John 3:1-3,
Revelation 7:2-4,
Revelation 7:9-14.
Reflection
Dear sisters and brothers,
Saints were not born because of prayer life, fasting, following the rule and regulation of the Church and the society where he/she lived.
They were not so rich or holier than others in the world.
But holy is not what we think.
It is not going away from the society and living an austere life in forest or running from the reality of the life.
For me, Holy means that a normal human being doing his/her duty with love and living with reality of suffering and joys of the society and of the world.
They are content with what they have and how they live with all kind of ups and downs.
For this life of living, there is a perfect example in the holy bible.
Yes, I can see the exemplary life of Joseph and Mary in the Gospels.
They are great saints who lived on this earth with ups and downs.
Joseph left his work in Jerusalem, where he could earn his livelihood and went to Bethlehem with delivery pain of his wife Mary and there was no place in the city to sit.
With the young Child Jesus, they run away from Bethlehem to Egypt in order save the Child from the cruel king as the Angel guided them.
Joseph had to leave his well-established carpentry store.
When they returned from Egypt, he worked to provide Jesus and Mary with a happy home.
He protected them against avoidable suffering and danger.
Their happiness and safety always came first and no suffering was ever grudged to give them the very best his heart and mind and hands could provide.
Joseph did everything because of love of God.
Not a single word spoken by him is recorded in the Gospels.
Yet, his silence warmth, understanding, humanity and his life speak for themselves.
Mary heard prophesy of Simeon and pondered in her heart.
She bore bad gossips and sayings of people around her.
Jesus was called mad, but Mary could live a life with peace hearing all these things.
Finally, she closely watched how Jesus her only beloved Son crucified on the Cross.
She lived a life of sorrow and lived with faith and confidence in God.
Mary did everything because of love of God.
Each one is created with a lot gifts but without love everything will be in vain.
We can be a good writer, a good preacher, a good singer but without love our life will be nothing and lonely.
It is love that makes humans humane.
Brother Giles, one of the first companions of Saint Francis of Assisi was engaged one day in conversation with Saint Bonaventure on the love of God.
Bonaventure said, “If God were to bestow on anyone no other talent besides the grace of loving Him, this alone is enough.”
Giles asked, “Can, then, an idiot love God as perfectly as a great scholar?”
Bonaventure replied, “A poor illiterate old woman may love Him more than the most learned master and doctor in theology.”
Is it not wonderful that our love of God, the one thing that matters, does not necessarily depend upon learning or wealth or social rank?
Practically everything else in life depends on one or more of these, but not the essential thing in life, which is the love of God.
God created us like ‘His Image and Likeness.’
Image symbolizes the exterior qualities of human being.
Likeness represents the interior qualities of God.
In all these external and internal qualities, one quality of God stands high that is love.
This quality of love is poured into human beings to experience and express all the time.
This love attitude and behavior is important and we long for.
Let us choose a life and live fully that matters in life.
The life of Mother Teresa must teach us a sound lesson that the way of peace is the way of love.
Love is the greatest weapon on the earth.
It conquers all things.
If each of us can posses this weapon, the world be a heaven.
Love is unselfish and cares more for the other than for itself.
Love respects the other and never tries to use him/her.
In the absence of the beloved the other feels lonely.
It is true in the life of Joseph and Mary.
They felt lonely and wept for it when they missed the beloved Son Jesus in Jerusalem.
The blood of Christ is the symbol of God’s love for us.
It is a sign of God’s reconciliation with us, the whole creation.
The blood that flowed from the side of Jesus on the Cross flows down even today sanctifying the entire world to holiness.
In my own experience, I can tell you that I really felt the presence of unconditional love of God in my suffering and painful moments.
It does not call me for extraordinary life, but it invites me to live a life of love through my own ordinary, difficult and painful events.
It is so personal and wonderful experience.
It is the saintly life for me.
You and I may not be canonized as saints in the Church.
But I live a saintly life with ordinary people loving, living and serving in my own small ways and forgiving all my hurting feelings.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
