As Eastertide draws to a close, we are called to continue living our lives with God in this chaotic world. We are often surrounded with the concerns that are of this Earth and encounter many temptations that cause us to sin and drift away from God. Jesus was sent by God to illuminate the path leading us to heaven – the kingdom where we belong.
Jesus was seen praying for his disciples, asking our Father to protect them from the devil that seeks the ruin the souls of believers. He stresses that even though the disciples are here in this world, they are not of this world. They are sent to the world to evangelize and spread God’s love. We too are called to do this. God’s greatest commandment of all is Love. First, to love God with all our Heart, our soul and our minds (Matthew 22: 36-37). Second, to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:31). To bring the message of Jesus to them is to show our love for them.
As we go out as God’s messengers, we must understand what exactly love is. We have often heard the following verse, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Cor 13:4-5)”. Now is the time to practise it. When we love it has to be a conscious, continual action and decision – we choose to remember and see the good in others and embracing their imperfections so that one day they will live in the perfection. It is neither a burden nor a sense of duty.
Take for instance, a close one has to be admitted to the hospital late at night and you accompany them throughout the night. Do you view this as a sacrifice of sleep, of your time and energy or are you truly worried and want to be there? By this simple difference in thought, we ask ourselves if we truly love. Most of us love our neighbours in the human, imperfect way that we have been exposed to, which is why we experience hurt or feel broken when we get into disagreements.
It is through truly loving oneself that we can give ourselves fully to love. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for us, revealing his perfect love for the Father and for us. Only when we have known and experienced God’s love, can we love others in the way God taught us to. His love dwells within us and is made perfect.
Having experienced and known Jesus’ love, Jesus welcomes us to share in his love. It is in this spirit of Easter that we are sent out into the world to draw people closer to that relationship of love which every one of us is invited to be a part of. Let us pray for the grace from God to be able to live out the gospel of love not just during Easter but in every day of our lives.
Ephrem Music Ministry