Do You Love?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ....

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

Amen.

READING 1: From the Second Letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy

“Dear brother, always remember that Jesus Christ, descendant of David, rose from the dead according to the Gospel that I preach.

For this Gospel I suffer, even to the point of wearing chains like a criminal, but the word of God is not chained. That is why I endure everything for the sake of the chosen ones, so that they too may attain salvation in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

This saying is true:

If we die with Him, we shall live with Him.
If we persevere, we shall reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, because He cannot deny Himself.

This is what you must teach. Warn everyone before God to avoid arguments over words, which are useless and only ruin those who listen.

Make every effort to present yourself before God as a worker who has nothing to be ashamed of and who faithfully proclaims the truth.”

The Word of God.

READING 2: From the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew

“At that time, one of the scribes approached Jesus and asked Him:

“Which is the first of all the commandments?”

Jesus replied:

'The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.'

The scribe answered:

“Well said, Teacher. You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other besides Him. And to love Him with all one’s heart, soul, and strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Jesus, seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him:

“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

And no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

The Word of the Lord.

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    I believe it is very important today to understand several things here. You have probably heard this Gospel many times, so odds are good you already know it, and may have even reflected on it. Yet we all need to understand it more deeply - and put it into practice.
    To do that, I would like to bring into play two two phrases Saint John expresses
1. The one who loves does not sin, because love does not seek to harm.
2. If we were happier, we would not criticize others, because we would be too occupied being happy.

    Why do I mention these phrases?

    Because it is the bitter person who gets entangled in the lives of others and pridefully criticizes them....that is sin which damages.

    It is very important to understand that for Jesus, teaching about love — and for God making love the greatest commandment — has one primary purpose: To help us learn to be happy, and, to live rightly in Him.

    We all have difficult situations in life - that's a given. Go speak with your neighbor, a coworker, a friend, someone at church, your children or spouse about this — and you'll quickly discover that everyone has struggles and complications.

    Why?

- Because we resist accepting things.
- Because we struggle to “understand” everything on our terms.
- Because we want to control everyone’s lives.

    Often, our difficulties become worse because of US - ourselves - because of the way we see life.
    If we truly lived in love the way Christ expresses it, as the command, our lives would not be so complicated. We would not experience so many difficult situations. So when Jesus speaks about love, and when God places love as the greatest commandment, it is to make this life less complicated and more bearable...and to assure us of the eternal life to come.
    That is why another saying helps us along the way: if we learned to love, life would be easier to carry.

- But because we do not love ourselves, we live stressed, depressed, and anxious.
- Because we do not love others, we live surrounded by conflict, criticizing people, worrying excessively about others, and even becoming sick.
- Because we do not love God, we lie, steal, deceive, and betray.

    That is why it is important to understand this subject of love.
    Love was not given merely to please God; it was given for us to make our life more bearable, less painful, more peaceful, and happier – in Him. 
So today’s Gospel speaks of love, and the question for us is:

Do you live in love?

- The one who lives in love is happy.
- The one who lives in love turns difficult situations into opportunities to learn.
- The one who lives in love learns to accept differences in others, even when there is disagreement.
- The one who lives in love makes life a place of peace and tranquility.

    So let us ask ourselves today:

Do you truly live in love?

    I repeat this sentiment again: the one who loves does not criticize, because they are busy loving. The one who loves does not sin.

    Why?

    Because they do not harm others, they do not harm themselves, and they do not harm the connection to God.

    If we entered into this dynamic of love, we would resolve many conflicts.
- We would better understand humanity.
- We would accept the differences in others more readily.
- We would not become so stressed.
- We would find more meaning and joy in life, especially in what we are experiencing today.
- We would not fall into stress or anxiety.

    THIS is what God desires and that's why to love this way is first and second above all other commandments. That is why the scribe in the Gospel says: ...loving God, loving one’s neighbor, and loving oneself is worth more than any sacrifice or burnt offering.

    Why?

- Because many times we make sacrifices for God without loving our neighbor—and that is not enough. Wherever we go, there is always another person.
- Sometimes we do things for others but without loving ourselves—and that is not enough either, because wherever we go, we ourselves are present.
- And at times, we do things without love for God - but that also falls short, because God is everywhere.

    So we must learn to do everything under the love of God, the love of others, and the love of ourselves as Gods creation. The sacrifices we make for God are meaningless if we lack love. The sacrifices we make for others are meaningless if we do not love ourselves.

    So here is the invitation for this morning:

    If you could measure love on a scale from 1 to 100....

- How much do you love (others)?
- How much do you love yourself?
- How much do you love God?

    Go on, give yourself a score on each element and be honest. And then ask:

What impedes my ability to love?

    If love is spoken of so often, if God is love, if salvation is found in love, if the one who loves is happy, if the one who loves does not sin, etc. — are there things happening in my life that prevents me from loving? 
    What thoughts do I carry?

    Many times, it is our own way of thinking that gets in the way of this love:

“I cannot love this person, because.....”
“I will never achieve this, becasue....”
“I am not good enough for that person, becasue....”

    A good beginning, a good process, starts with examining our thoughts. If our thoughts are not aligned with love, then we can understand why our lives look the way they do.

    So let us ask ourselves today:

- How far does my love go?
- How great is my love?
- Why is it difficult for me to love?
- What blocks to love do I harbor?

Surely, in asking these questions, we may discover some answers. Let us take this reflection on love and put it into practice:

- How much do I love, from 1 to 100?
- Why is it difficult for me to love more?
- What is hardest for me: loving God, loving others, or loving myself?
- What is most difficult?

    Let us begin to work on it, because in the end, our salvation will be automatically assured - we won't have to wrangle over it. And those who love in this way will live their earthly lives in happiness, peace, and tranquility. 
    “Love, and do what you will,” says Saint Augustine, because the one who truly loves does not go wrong.

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Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Lord be with you.

And may the blessing of Almighty God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—descend upon you and remain with you always.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

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This is transcribed for study and reflection using AI, from an original Spanish tube cast bt Father Robinson Gonzalez at Oxy Espiritual, YouTube. We are indebted to Father Gonzales for his inights.
If you wish, you can attend that original tube cast here...

Do You Love?