God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.
In the early 1960's Clarence Rivers' song, God is Love, came like a bolt from the blue into my narrowly Catholic world. Love in those days was a suspect word, implying the impulsive foolishness of romance. Need I add that Rivers' Gospel music tradition was completely foreign to my notion of the pre-Vatican Council, Roman Catholic Mass? As the young white seminarians sang Father Rivers' song here at Mount Saint Francis, few could suspect the sound came from another America.
Couples often choose today's passage from 1 John, or a similar message from Saint Paul's First Corinthians 13, for their wedding ceremony. They hope they might remain in love and thus remain in God. The homilist for this liturgical event might gently suggest there is far more to love than the optimistic good feelings of a man and woman. If their love does not welcome the conception of babies, their new inlaws, neighbors and strangers, it might be little more than a glorified narcissism.
Saint John follows his pronunciation on love with the mysterious words:
"In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world."
And what are we? The Sacrament of God's presence.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph 747, describes the Church as the original sign to the world, a sacrament:
The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men.
If the world knows anything about God it comes through the witness of the Church's communion. According to the patriarch Tertullian, they should marvel as they say of Christians, "See how they love one another!" Philosophers might suppose there ought to be a creator who created out of nothing and a prime mover who set everything in motion, but that intimation pales before the blazing sunrise of God's love in the Church. As Saint Paul urged the Philippians, "Everyone should see how unselfish you are!"
As the Church regains its footing in a post-pandemic world and calls people to worship together -- rich and poor and innumerable political opinions -- we must demonstrate that love for one another which is simultaneously hospitable and faithful to the Truth.
True compassion for others does not encourage them to walk in the darkness of error. Rather, it demonstrates that the Church's teachings are the yoke that is easy and the burden that is light, especially when compared to the world's insane expectations. Anyone who expects to live fully without making substantial, daily sacrifices of their desires and pleasures has not heard the Lord's invitation to take up your cross daily and follow in my steps. The Truth sets us free first by making us uncomfortable. We can greet everyone, recognizing their dignity as God's image, without espousing every nonsensical belief that the world foists upon us.
We have seen the meaning of "God is love" first in the crucifixion of Jesus and then in the Church. As we gaze on him we know freedom and happiness.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.