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From the Pastor's Desk May 9, 2021
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From the Pastor’s Desk: May 9, 2021
As we approach the end of the season of Easter, this Sunday offers us a powerful reminder of what is at the very heart of the message of the Gospel, “Love one another as I love you.” This is a very demanding and challenging request of love that is expressed in different ways. Today, love is connected with joy; forgiveness is expressed in love; obedience to God’s command is our expression for the love we have for God, so in love we can join into the life of Christ. When we “remain in His love”, we also love one another in a way of spending ourselves for the good of others, because of Christ and the life-giving love He gives. Our expression of the love of Christ we have received is the essence and fulfillment of the search for an ever closer and more intimate relationship with Jesus. The gift of love opens further the depths of the meaning of love in our daily life because His love means that we transfer our relationship with Him to others- our families, relatives, and friends…to all whom we encounter in our daily lives. Therefore, let us love one another!
How do we respond to be followers of Christ? Jesus reduces the essence of what it means to be His follower into one sentence, "Love one another as I have loved you." And to make it even simpler (because He knows that we tend to complicate things unnecessarily), Jesus explains exactly what He means by the word "love," a word the Devil is always trying to distort: "A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends." In other words, love is self-giving, and so, the greater the self-giving, the greater the love. When we put our lives at the service of others, when we live in order to give and not to take, when we are willing to suffer so that someone else can rejoice, then we may call ourselves His disciples.
But Jesus went even further in order to make sure we would understand. He didn't explain the meaning of true love just with words; He also explained it with His deeds, with His own suffering and death. He accepted mockery, humiliation, torture, rejection, injustice, misunderstanding, betrayal, and finally death, not because He was too weak to resist, but to show us what love really is: self-giving, self-forgetful generosity. Jesus Christ is giving without counting the cost, even without asking for something in return - this is God's idea of love. And what is ours?
The message of love is so beautifully celebrated today in the gift of motherhood- Mother’s Day. It is with heart-filled gratitude and thanks, I turn to the women who gave life, and through their examples, showed us the beauty of steadfast love throughout our lives. United with families that are filled with celebrations, I want to express the profound gratitude we all feel for our mothers. On this day, I pray in a very special way, for the gift of motherhood through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God. May she intercede for each one of you and protect you in Her own motherly love. May the blessings of God be sent upon all women who share their motherhood in the way of life, example, and inspiration they offer us.
Let us do something beautiful for God with our lives this week. We have to love until it hurts. It is not enough to say, “I love.” We must put that love into a loving action. And how do we do that? By giving until it hurts.
May the love of God be with you always- “Love one another as I loved you!”
With prayers,
Fr. Andy
