May
21, 2017
6th
Sunday of Easter
Acts
8:5–8, 14–17; 1 Peter 3:15–18; John 14:15-21
I remember my
professor once shared to our class that there are two ways of saying I love you
in Italian. The first way is to say “Ti amo” which literally means “I love
you.” “Ti amo” is more on the level of sentimental love. The other way of saying
“I love you” is to say “Ti Voglio Bene” which literally it means “I desire your
good.” This is the love that goes beyond sentimental love. It is a love that is
expressed in action – by desiring what is good for the person you love. Jesus says in today’s gospel, “If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.” How can
obedience to commandments be an expression of love? Isn’t it a form of
restricting our freedom? What does He mean by this?
LOVE
MEANS DESIRING THE GOOD OF THE OTHER. This is actually how St. Thomas Aquinas
would define love. Love is not merely an outburst of emotion. It is not merely
about feeling good. Love is an act of
the will. Love is a decision. It means that if I love someone, I think about
what is good for him/her and I will consciously do it because I love the person.
Love is to desire the good of the other. What about loving God? God is all
good. He is the supreme Good. We cannot add anymore to the goodness of God. What
we can do rather is to do the good God wants us to do. If we claim that we love
the Lord, then we make a deliberate choice to observe and follow everything He
taught us. Thus Jesus tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
This is the gauge that will determine our love for God.
GOD’S
COMMANDMENTS ARE FOR OUR OWN GOOD. Perhaps one reason why we find it
difficult to obey God’s commandments is because of the thought that it limits
our exercise of freedom. For example, God’s command of being faithful to one’s
spouse. Some men may feel restricted of their freedom to enjoy the company of
other women. But come to think of it, if there were no laws against infidelity or
adultery, then we would have a lot of broken families and parentless children.
The same is true also with honesty. If there were no laws against dishonesty
(“Thou shalt not steal”), there would be chaos and disorder in society. God has
given us freedom as a sign of His love. We were not created as slaves of the Lord.
We have freedom. God has given us these
commandments to discipline our exercise of freedom. Authentic use of this
freedom is not just the license to do anything we want. Authentic freedom means
one is free from anything that hinders us from following and loving the Lord.
LOVE
KEEPS US IN COMMUNION WITH GOD. We are already preparing to celebrate
the Solemnity of Ascension of Jesus next week.
If we look at our readings for today, the disciples ask themselves: Now that
Jesus is about to ascend to heaven and return to the Father, now that Jesus
will leave us again, will we be left alone? Is there something enduring in our
communion with Jesus? How can we maintain our communion with him? The answer is
love. Love will keep us in communion with God. For whenever there is love, God
is present for He is love.
My dear friends,
Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” To love the Lord
is not mere sentimentality. To love the Lord means to obey His commands which
are all for our own good. May we strive
to keep alive our bond of love for the Lord.
