True love Comes from Above
“Jesus said to his Apostles: Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple - amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward. When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns. (Mt 10:34 – 11:1)
True love often requires difficult work and sacrifice, to overcome ourselves and what in the language of faith is called carrying the cross. " whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me." says Jesus today. So, let's be wary of such words when someone talks about love so lofty and beautifully but don't even mention this difficult side of love.
How prophetic were sounded the words of John Paul II when, talking about marriage, he did not hesitate to say openly that marriage is a path of holiness also when it becomes a path of the cross
We, the disciples of Christ, believe in the meaning of the cross because we believe that our world really is God's, that even because of sin, He did not cease to be God's. It is true that our sins deeply distort the original goodness of God's created world. If we weren't sinners, love would have only bright sides. Love would always be something easy, obvious and joyful. However, sinfulness - both our own and that of other people - deforms our love and sometimes makes it difficult. But love is never impossible for us.
The Lord Jesus gave us an example that love is possible even among the greatest anguish and hatred. Even the terrible darkness of Calvary failed to obscure His unequivocal love that was in Him. This persistence in love when it is difficult, is called a sacrifice. In today's Gospel, the Lord Jesus calls for such faithfulness when he tells us: "whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me."
Anyone who, even in difficult situations, is not discouraged from the attitude of love, makes a little brighter both himself and our world. This is why John Paul II during his last pilgrimage to Poland spoke so much about respect and honor for martyrs. The martyrs stood with Christ and His commandments also when they were killed for it.
Well, when we, in times of peace, carry our crosses of sickness or old age, cross of difficult marital life or cross of loneliness, cross of difficult material situations or any other crosses - I repeat: if only we try to carry our cross in God's way - then, like martyrs, we contribute to make things brighter in the world. Because if someone stays with Christ and His love also when it is difficult, in this way he becomes a witness that Satan is not as strong as it sometimes seems to us when we look at the magnitude of evil in our world.
The source of all true love is God's love. And none of us will truly love God by ourselves. For this, God's grace is needed. True love comes from above.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george