If We Love One Another, God Remains in Us

January 7, 2009

Christmas Weekday

By Melanie Rigney

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. (1 John 4:11-12)

He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor. (Psalms 72:13)

(When Jesus realized the disciples were terrified when they saw him walking on the sea,) he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were (completely) astounded. They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6:50-52)

Piety

Lord, help me to love as You love: without precondition and despite perceived hurts of the past and fears about the future.

Study

Cec Murphey

Today’s first reading brings to mind a marvelous scene from the 1987 film Barfly, loosely based on the life of Charles Bukowski, and nicknamed the Poet Laureate of Skid Row:

Wanda: I hate people. Do you hate people?

Henry: No ... but I sure feel better when they're not around.

It’s easy to love people who aren’t around: starving children in developing countries, for example, or friends or family we see once or twice a year at most. Loving folks we encounter every day ... that can be a different story. There’s the neighbor who doesn’t mow the grass often for our liking, the coworker who clips her nails at her desk, the man who puts his briefcase down on the only free seat on the bus or train.

Like the disciples in today’s Gospel reading, we fail to understand the incident of the loaves because our hearts are hardened. Christ didn’t line up the five thousand and provide food only to those he liked or approved of; he fed them all.

You may have heard of the best seller 90 Minutes in Heaven, which was co-authored by my friend Cec Murphey. Cec is a retired Presbyterian minister who’s been on every continent, including six years as a missionary in Africa. He’s the author of more than 100 books, many as a ghostwriter, which is why he’s called “The Man Behind the Words.” A while back, Cec sent around an e-mail update that beautifully captures where we go wrong and harden our hearts when we attempt to split loving as Christ and “liking” the people in our lives:

When we determine what is the acceptable behavior of another, we don’t love the person. This comes down to saying, “I’ll love you if you meet certain conditions.” … Maybe we need to learn to care for people as they are, regardless of whether they ever conform to our standards. We love them even if they never change. If we do that, we don’t have to decide whether we love or like them.

In Cursillo, we’re fond of saying: “Make a friend, be a friend, bring that friend to Christ.” We can’t skip steps one and two, and we can’t limit them to “make a friend who looks or acts just like you” or “make a friend because you feel sorry for that person or yourself.” Love all as Christ loves, and give thanks for His presence.

Action

Do some palanca for someone whom you have a hard time loving. Take him to dinner or talk with her about her 2009 vacation plans. Take courage; do not be afraid.