How To Love Each Other As Christ Has Loved Us? 怎樣有如基督彼此相愛？



The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year C
Theme: How To Love Each Other As Christ Has Loved Us? 怎樣有如基督彼此相愛？

Jesus Christ, the Son of God is Himself a Sacrament, the embodiment of God’s love. He is the visible sign of the invisible Father. He pours out the invisible graces of the Father in a concrete and tangible manner. Whatever He does, He does it to manifest the mercy and love of the Father towards humanity, in particular towards the poor and the needy. For example, the miracle of five loaves and two fish we read today (Luke 9:11b-17). He began with preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick (9:11b). Then He fed the hungry crowd of 5000 men with five loaves and two fish (9:16-17). During the Last Supper, He consecrated bread and wine to be His own body and blood which He left behind for us to offer to God the most acceptable perfect sacrifice. Then, He was crucified, died and was buried in a new tomb which belonged to somebody else. He did this in order to repay all the debts of the whole humanity in the past, the present and in the ages to come in the future. He is able to do this because He is the Son of God.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is thus omnipotent. Of course He is able to love us through teaching us the truth, healing us of our illnesses and frailties, feeding us physically as well as spiritually and even being killed on the cross for us to redeem us of all our sins. During the Last Supper, He gave Christians a new Commandment on top of the precepts and Commandments of the Old Covenant. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” (John 13:34) But we’re mere creatures and mortals. What are we that are able to work miracles like Him?

Probably we should understand the meaning of “miracles” better. Miracles are signs of God’s presence but they are not necessarily earth shaking, mountain shattering or sea/river dividing like crossing the Red Sea. Take a look at the experience of Elijah who encountered God on Mount Horeb. God was not found in strong and violent wind, nor crushing rocks, nor earthquake nor fire but in a light silent sound (1 Kings 19:11-12) Of course, Jesus has worked some spectacular miracles in public such as calming the sea and driving daemons into two thousand pigs which jumped to their death over the cliff. But most of the time, the miracles worked by Jesus were not exciting at all: e.g. changing water into wine, healing lepers, the blind, cursing a barren fig-tree and consecrating bread and wine to become His body and blood etc. They were mostly personal and took place in small groups of people. Nevertheless, all miracles are signs showing God’s presence and mercy. With this understanding, when we show God’s presence and mercy, we are working miracles too. Let’s meditate.

It’s easy for us to see mistakes in others and in ourselves. We’re very alert to others’ faults because they might affect our benefits. We feel insecure and do whatever we can to protect ourselves. We enjoy playing God in passing judgments on others. Therefore, it is very difficult for us to forgive. On the other hand, we’re alert to our own faults when we want to evade responsibilities. Suddenly, we become humble and tell others that we’re inadequate to accomplish. But what does God’s mercy mean? God wants to edify. God wants to see us fully actualize our potentials which have been tarnished and smothered by the Original Sin. That’s why God is eager to forgive our sins. God shows mercy in NOT counting our trespasses. Through the prophets, He says, “Do I find pleasure in the death of the wicked? Do I not rejoice when they turn from their evil way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23) That is why God is patient and is forgiving. Can Christians be patient and forgiving? Of course we can. Jesus has made it clear when He says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) Though patience and forgiveness are in short supply, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Christians can.
We have heard enough “To err is human and to forgive is divine”. But aren’t Christians supposed to be saints? Aren’t they called to be saints? It is our call to sanctify ourselves as well as the others.
Take a look of living things around us. Without exception, all living things, whether material or spiritual, will adapt themselves to the surrounding environment. Otherwise, they perish! But the adaption is NOT passive. Times and again, we aggressively modify the environment to make it more habitable and comfortable. Therefore, it is paramount to evangelize so as to create a more Christian environment conductive to the practice and growth of our Christian faith. St. Paul, an exemplar of evangelization, has this to say, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) It is our mission to reconcile with ourselves, with others and with God. We make our lives difficult if we are complacent and if we give a million excuses NOT to reconcile! Actually, we don’t have the strength to forgive others. That’s why when we say in the Lord’s Prayer “… as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12b), we are actually invoking the Holy Spirit to grant us strength to forgive and thus to reconcile! Let’s keep ourselves open to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because in showing mercy, we’re showing God’s presence. In short, we are working miracles.

Still, how do we love each other as Christ has loved us? Christ is more than being altruistic. He gives us His life and dies on the cross to repay all our debts. Not all of us are ready to die a martyrdom!
Once again like miracles, martyrdom doesn’t have to be bloody, heroic and spectacular. Of course, Jesus was crucified, died and was buried so that we sinners may have life. But He doesn’t have to die uncountable number of times in order to achieve our redemption. Moreover, He left behind the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, a non-bloody, non-spectacular and non-violent way to “die” in order to enrich our lives. Therefore, whenever we sacrifice our time, our strength and even our health so that others’ lives might become better, we’re are doing exactly what the Holy Eucharist does.
During the Lenten Season, the Church encourages us to abstain and fast. In refusing to eat, we are able to spare the food to feed the hungry. We literally give up a part of our live so that other may have lives. The example of organ donation is an even clearer illustration. A donor loses an organ which continues to live in the recipient’s body to improve and even sustain his life. Isn’t this a miracle also?

Brethren! We work miracles and we ourselves are miracles when we share our lives so that others may live better. We don’t have to be as heroic as soldiers defending and even dying for their home countries. All of us are able to work miracles to show God’s presence and mercy. The Father must be happy to see us reconcile the world to Him.
God bless! 2016 Reflection
Picture Credit:stmargaretmary.org