A
Russian peasant farmer, who had never left his small, rural town, had the
opportunity to come the big city of Moscow. He arrived at an elegant hotel
dressed in muddy boots and worn overalls looking completely inappropriate. The
man at the desk politely assigned him to a room on the top floor and treated
him as any other paying customer.
With
key in hand he started the long climb to the hotel room because he wasn't
comfortable with the idea of elevators. On the first landing there was a
full-length mirror. The man, who had never seen himself before, was suddenly
startled and frightened by the imposing image before him. He yelled to scare
him away - only to find that the image in the mirror was willing to threaten
and shout the same.
He
ran to the next floor and confronted the fearsome giant again, exchanging harsh
looks and almost coming to blows.
On the third floor they stood nose to nose and exchanged simultaneous
insults as a deepening war-like attitude was taking root in both of them.
Realizing that there was nowhere to escape this ugly fellow who was
aggressively stalking him, he ran quickly back to the front desk in the lobby
to file a complaint. After hearing a detailed description of the perpetrator
the man at the desk understood that he had met the enemy and it was the man in
the mirror. In order to save the face of his guest and to disengage the
hostility he offered simple advice. He said, "The fellow who you
confronted is here to protect people. He is really quite harmless. Trust me. If
you will show him a harsh and angry countenance he will do the same. However if
when you see him you just smile pleasantly and continue on your way he will nod
and smile at you as well. Enjoy the rest of your stay." That's what he did
and remarkably that's what happened...
King Solomon is reported to have once said:
"Like the reflection of a face in water so is the heart of one person to
another."
To
love properly, whether that be another person or ourselves, is a very difficult
thing. We live in a culture that dilutes the true meaning of love. Many of us experience
love that is flawed, we do not fathom how much we are loved, or deal with
people full of anger, bitterness and resentment. Yet, in today's gospel, that
is exactly what Jesus tells us to do. He does not offer it as a suggestion or
as something that would be really nice if we did it. No, he says emphatically:
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I
have loved you, so you also should love one another."
In
order to truly love each other as Jesus commands, we need a standard, a guide
to follow. We need divine assistance to know what love truly is and what it is not.
We need to recognize the Love of God must first be reflected within us by our
own practice of the Faith. Finally, we need God's help to realize we must love
one another because God first loved us and commands us to share that love with
all that we encounter, even those who are mean, nasty, strange, or otherwise
hard to love.
I
think this is one of the most difficult things Jesus commands us to do. Consider how Jesus loves us! It is
by giving himself completely without holding anything back. It is by blessing
us even when he knows that we are not following him or listening to his voice. The
love of Christ is always proactive rather than reactive. If we have any doubts
about this Divine love, all we need to do is look at a crucifix or remember
what will happen at this altar in just a few minutes.
This
is the love that seeks to embrace us. This is the love that is more than our
guide and our model. It is the love of the One who gave Himself for us while we
were still enemies of His Father; the freely given love of the One whose
faithfulness destroys death and makes Eternal Life possible. It is the love
that transforms our heart, our soul, our life and enables us to love others in
a proactive way, no matter how we might "feel" about them. This is
the love we are commanded to share with others. A love that is sacrificial,
proactive, and limitless. Christ's command to love does not mean that we must
be friends with everyone, profess romantic love for all, or ignore healthy
boundaries. Nor does it mean that we must always say things that make people
feel good or comfortable.
If
we truly follow Christ, if we want to keep his command, then we must love as he
does, without exception, without limits, without counting the costs. We will
not always feel incredible feelings
by loving those difficult people in our world and in our lives. It may not seem
fair why we have to extend this love when it is so readily rejected and even
trampled upon. There will be times when we feel at a disadvantage, vulnerable
because we hold ourselves to a different set of rules than those who have
rejected Christ and his commandment of love. There will be times that we will suffer persecution and pain because of
our faithfulness to Jesus' command. However, I can guarantee that those who
follow Christ enjoy a peace, joy, and happiness that world simply cannot offer.
On
this fifth Sunday of Easter, when Jesus gives us a new commandment of love, I
invite you to look at your own heart. Ask the Lord to show you where you fail
to follow this command. Who do you struggle to love? What do you withhold in
loving others, especially those who are difficult? Jesus can only command us to
love each other because he has first loved each and every one of us even though
we didn't deserve it. He asks us to pass that love on to others so that the
world may be transformed, one heart at a time. As we celebrate this sacrament
of Christ's redemptive love, let us ask for the strength to love one another
with His Love. Then our
hearts will be made whole, our lives will reflect Christ, and our world will be
transformed by the One who is Love Himself.
