HOMILY/REFLECTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B (1)

HOMILY/REFLECTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B

TOPIC: THE LOVE OF GOD

BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas

Gospel: Jn 3:13-21

Message # 237: “On the Road of Perfect Love”

1. The Marian Message

a) The Blessed Mother is the only creature of God who “could reflect completely the plan which the Father had in the creation of the universe” (letter e). This is because she is totally free from any stain of sin: she is the Immaculate Conception. That is why God chose her to be the mother of His Son Jesus. In this she assumed a dual role: Mother of Jesus and Mother of mankind (letter f).

b) This sublime grace that she enjoyed is accompanied by a great mission, that of leading us all “along the road of love, of divine grace, of prayer, of penance, of your interior conversion” so that we become more and more like her Son Jesus (letter g). This is an enormous task because the enemy is actively at work in leading mankind to sin, especially through egoism and materialism. These are the major blocks on the road of love. In this regard, she is the “Woman clothed in the Sun”, the “victorious Leader” in this struggle against Satan (letter h).

c) She assures us of her motherly protection and assistance “along the road of perfect love” so that we may become part of her victory and give immense glory to the Most Holy Trinity (letter l). She earnestly desires that her children will learn to love and live in love as shown by Jesus.

2. The Sunday Gospel

a) If we trace the root cause of all the sins in the world, we will come up with only one: selfishness. Every time we let the self take center stage in our life, all sins come into play. Let us take the seven capital sins: pride, envy, greed, gluttony, lust, anger, and sloth. All these boil down to selfishness, or love of self over and above God and others. The sins of omission are also rooted in selfishness. Many times we do not reach out to others because we are greedy or envious, or we do not want others to be better off, or we do not want our comfort and privacy to be disturbed.

b) In the Book of Genesis, it is said that God created man “in His image and likeness.” What has made us the image and likeness of God? The answer is love. It is only man who is capable of loving. The animals have no freedom, and their actions and behaviors are ruled by their instincts. But man received the gift of freedom from God. And because of this freedom, we are capable of loving; we have the power to love. And this is what makes us image and likeness of God who is Love. When we truly love, we become like God. The Apostle John talks about this in his First Letter (1Jn 4:7-12).

c) If we want to become true followers of Jesus, we must remember that discipleship has two major conditions. He said: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (Mt. 16:24). The first condition is “deny yourself.” Why is it necessary to deny ourselves? This is to combat selfishness. Self-denial helps us to put the self at the last, and later on, to teach us how to give up the self. As long as selfishness is still present in our lives, it is impossible to truly love. When one learns self-denial, he becomes disposed to love. After all, love is total self-giving. A selfish person cannot give of himself. Love is an outward movement, other-oriented; selfishness is towards the self. We see this in the Eucharist. The bread, in order to be given out to the people, must be broken. Jesus has to be broken on the cross in order to be given to us. The candle has to be consumed in order to give light. Every person, in order to give himself to others in love, must be broken, must deny himself.

d) Jesus summarized all the commandments into one: Love of God, and love of others as you love yourself. Remember that this is a commandment; it has to be seriously followed. And the order is very clear: God first, then others, and last is the self. When this order is observed and followed, our life is in harmony and peace. Everything falls into their proper places. But when we put the self ahead than God, that’s when all the troubles come. So, the Sacred Scriptures give us this principle: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given you besides.”

e) There is a need to properly understand the word “love”. Since the beginning people have not correctly grasped the real meaning of love. It is the most abused word in the world. When people use this word, they actually mean self-gratificat ion. It is the kind of love that goes back to the self, and it is never love at all. Take for example: “I love my dog.” It does not really mean that you are willing to sacrifice yourself and give your whole self to the dog. In reality, it only means you love your dog because it keeps you company and makes you happy. It goes back to the self. “I love my car.” Are you going to give your whole self to the car? No. You say you love your car because it is nice to drive it and it adds to your personal image. It goes back to the self. What many people do not yet realize is that love is selfless. It seeks only the good of the other, and nothing else. For the best description of love, read St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13. The love that Scripture is refers to is agape, the highest form of love. This is generous love, sacrificial love, and self-giving love. The best picture of agape is Jesus Christ on the cross. It is total self-giving. Most people would only talk about love on the level of eros, and sometimes philia. But the Gospel is challenging us to follow God’s love in its purest and most sublime form – agape. This is the kind of love that the Gospels used on most instances.

f) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). This is the most important verse in the whole Bible. It is the summary of the Good News of our salvation. This verse should always lift us up, encourage us and give us hope to go on with our struggle in this world. Knowing that somebody loves you makes a lot of difference in our lives. Knowing that many people love you, gives you more strength to do a lot of things in this world. How much more wonderful things can happen to us knowing that God loves us? A Christian is always a hopeless optimist. He just cannot be discouraged because of the realization that God loves him. And we must also encourage others, even the non-Christians: “Smile! God loves you and me!”

g) God does not only love. He is Love Himself. If there is a word that can somehow describe the very nature of God, it is Love. It is the main ingredient of the unity of three Divine Persons. It is the secret formula of the Most Holy Trinity. The three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are distinct from each other, but they are only One God. It is perfect love that unites the Divine Persons into one God. And God invites us to His Family of Love. It is very possible to achieve perfect unity among all peoples if there is real love. That is why in marriage, the man and woman “are no longer two but one flesh. And what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mt. 19:6). What made two different persons one in marriage is love. Love always unites.

h) God’s love is not static. After all, love is always dynamic, an outward movement. Love is an action word. The concept of love cannot be completed until it reaches the other person. Love for oneself is no love at all. Love is always for the others. That is why God created the whole world. His love continually pours out. Creation is the result of this overflow of God’s love. He cannot stop loving for it is His essence. He even gave His own Son Jesus to us so that we may have eternal life and salvation. Love is always for the welfare of the beloved. And the highest and best welfare that we can think of is eternal salvation.

i) Does love end? How come there are many married couples who separate and they say their love for each other is over? Love is of God. And God is love. Therefore, love cannot end. It is eternal just as God is eternal. Love should not stop. The reason married couples separate is because they voluntarily stopped loving. The problem here is that many people equate love only to a feeling or a passing emotion. So when the feeling is gone, they say love is gone. The truth is that love is not just a feeling. There can still be love even when the feeling is gone. Jesus loved us even while he was dying on the cross. It was his utmost self-offering as proof of his love for us: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). Yet, what was he feeling while dying on the cross? Definitely, there was no romantic feeling of love there; everything is pain and agony. It is the same case with a wife caring for a terminally ill husband. It is the best picture of love, yet there can be no more romantic feeling involved. Love, then is not just an emotion or feeling; it goes beyond that. It is a decision and commitment to offer oneself for the beloved. It is a lifetime decision of self-giving to another. When one has decided to love a person, he has to commit himself to it: “for better or worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part” (cf. Marriage Rite).

j) Love is not only eternal but also universal, that is, for all people. That is why Jesus taught us to love everybody, even our enemies. There is no merit in loving only those who love you, Jesus said (Mt. 5:46-48). We are already repaid. The challenge is for us to love those who are unlovable, the rejected, the poor, and even our enemies. This is what is more meritorious. When we are able to do this, we become better reflections of the heavenly Father, who “make his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust” (Mt 5:45). And this is also the best proof of being true followers of Jesus: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).

k) Love has many expressions. To our parents, love is expressed in our respect for them; to children, it is shown by giving good example; to strangers, it is kindness; to superiors, obedience; to subordinates, generosity; to spouse, fidelity; to enemies, forgiveness; to students, patience; to sinners, mercy; to the poor and suffering, compassion; and to God, a pure and clean heart. Love is so all encompassing, which led many people to sing, “Love is a many-splendor thing.” Love is everything.

l) While dying on the cross, Jesus prayed: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus was able to pray for his enemies and even to forgive despite all the sufferings they inflicted on him because of his immense love for sinners. Love enables us to forgive. If there is enough love, we can forgive. If there is lack of love, we can’t forgive. A wife can forgive a philandering husband if she has enough love. But she cannot forgive a husband who has petty shortcomings if she has little love for him.

m) Love enables us to be courageous and free from fear. This is shown in the example of the martyrs. In the face of death, they remained calm and in peace. Their love of God is just so powerful that no force on earth can frighten them. St. John said this: “There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love” (1Jn 4:18).

n) In his old age, while exiled in the island of Patmos, St. John the Apostle used to speak to the people one and the same message: “My dear children, love one another.” One time, a disciple asked him why he has the same message over and over again. The apostle replied: “Because it is the command of the Lord, and if only this is followed, it is enough.” If only people truly love one another, there will be no wars, no poverty, no crimes and no man-made calamities. There will be peace, prosperity, justice and happiness for all. Heaven on earth is indeed possible. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will is that we love one another so that we will have unity and peace. If we do His will, then we will be perfectly united with God, and we can truly say that heaven begins in this world.

3. Closing Song:

“Sino Ako” (“kung di ako nagmamahal, sino ako?”)

GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR SHARING IN THE B.E.C.

1. Utos ni Hesus na mahalin natin pati ang ating mga kaaway. Paano natin gagawin ito?
2. Ano ang pinakamainam na payo ang ating maibibigay sa mga mag-asawang nasa krisis ang relasyon? 3. Posible ba na patuloy pa rin ang pag-ibig kahit wala na ang “romantic feeling”? Magbahagi ng konkretong halimbawa.