Living Catholicism

Love of God is twofold:

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. - Matthew 22:37-40

This love is a revelation to the world, for in this love the world comes to recognize Christ.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35

This love of God is also manifested in the way we live.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. - John 14:15

Yet what demands are placed on us by Christ's commands?

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. - John 15:12-14

So love is self-donating without measure. Christ loved us to the death, death on the Cross. Yet this self-sacrificing love is life-giving as He showed us in the Resurrection and through the merits of His Sacrifice, for He died that we might live. Martyrs demonstrate this love in a radical, instant way. Most of us must live this love in little ways be it through humble obedience to the teachings of the Church, especially in the area of morality, or through the simple life of laying aside our interests for those of others, especially in our families. Love, true love becomes an act of the will. Calvary is no picnic, but it is absolutely necessary. As Christ said,

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. - Matthew 10:39

If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. - Mark 8:34-35

Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will perserve it. - Luke 17:33

He who love his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him. - John 12:25-26

This final passage leads us into the last portion of our question: Why are we here? Service.

In John 12:25-26 Christ directly ties service to discipleship. This serving is a natural result of knowing and loving God. Love of Christ leads to imitation of Christ. Jesus Christ loves us so much that He humbled Himself and served us. This is clearly shown throughout the gospels. He fed the multitude, He washed the feet of His disciples, He cooked for the disciples after the Resurrection. All of these are acts of service and Christ calls us to do the same.

For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than He who sent him. - John 13:15-16

Yet service must be tied to knowledge and love, in other words service is directly linked to holiness. John Paul II, in Redemptoris Missio, stated:

The call to mission derives, of its nature, from the call to holiness. A missionary is really such only if he commits himself to the way of holiness: "Holiness must be called a fundamental presupposition and an irreplaceable condition for everyone in fulfilling the mission of salvation in the Church" (Christifideles Laici, 17: loc. cit., 419) The universal call to holiness is closely linked to the universal call to mission. Every member of the faithful is called to holiness and mission. This was the earnest desire of the Council [Vatican II], which hoped to be able "to enlighten all people with the brightness of Christ, which gleams over the face of the Church, by preaching to Gospel to every creature" (Lumen Gentium, 1). The Church's missionary spirituality is a journey towards holiness. - pp. 148-149

Mission and service are one in the same. So what is holiness? Holiness is perfect imitation of God. Christ tells us:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:48

It is in this union of service and holiness that we most perfectly imitate Jesus Christ.

These three, knowledge, love, and service of God leads to our heart's desire - perfect union with God. This sounds simple, but it is not easy. G.K. Chesterton once wrote:

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." - Chapter 5, What's Wrong With The World

The Christian ideal is the continual striving to love God and neighbor and, through that love, perfect union with God. That perfect union is complete acceptable and communion. God "grafts" us into Himself. We find what we have sought, Godly love.

Yet this communion with God also involves all of humanity, for God creates all. This is the beauty of the Mass. In the Eucharist, Christ unites us to Himself and through that union we are united with one another. The love we show our neighbor is the measure of our love for God.

In closing I offer this reflection by Mother Teresa of Calcutta:

It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.

May we all strive to know, love, and serve God and, through Him, one another.

In Christ,
Joe