Wednesday after Epiphany Sunday
1 Jn 4:11-18
Mk 6:45-52
God is love
“Love it was that made us;
And it was love that saved us.
Love was God’s plan, when He made man
God’s Divine Nature is Love.
Born of God’s love we must love Him;
That’s why He made us to love Him.
But only when we love all men,
Can we partake of God’s love.”
I wonder if the above rings a bell to our readers here. It was very popular and sung very frequently at mass and in school in the 70’s and early 80’s, but has taken a back seat to more contemporary compositions. Yet, its lyrics and tune are burned deep into my consciousness – and as I write, the song keeps playing in my head! Simple lyrics which summarise perfectly who made us, why and what we are created for – a seemingly obvious truth often escapes many. The lyrics remind us of our ‘roots’ in God and intimate connectedness with others through our common DNA which is love. Just as we find siblings resembling each other and bearing similar traits to their parents, so too we, as God’s children naturally carry that capacity to love, reflecting God whose nature is ‘love’, as St John declares (1 Jn 4:8). He does not say God is loving but that God IS love. Putting it another way, if God is not ‘love’, he wouldn’t be ‘God’. And if we are from God, we too (should) incarnate God’s love in our daily lives. How can I then, make him present and relatable, real and tangible?
As I mature in years, I appreciate more and more how God gave himself in love to us by sending Jesus into humanity. The oft-quoted phrase that ‘love is a choice and not a feeling’ takes on new meaning and depth. It’s mind over heart, it’s intentionally loving another even when every fibre of our being is resistant. It’s looking past irritations, discomfort, inconvenience and suspending my judgements over someone’s worthiness of my love. But hasn’t God loved me even though I am undeserving? To love others purely requires detachment from my preferences, suspension of my sense of fair play and striving to see the other as Jesus sees him. It’s remembering that Jesus was born to die for this person as much as he did the same for me. God’s love for all creatures qualifies them to be loved unequivocally. It is not for me to decide at all. That is a very tall ask indeed, and it feels I am set up for failure even before I have started to try to love in earnest. The truth is that such love is not natural; it’s supernatural. I cannot do this consistently on my own strength. St John reminds us that we share in the life of the Spirit (1 Jn 4:13) who dwells in us. God lives in us by our baptism, and we can draw from His presence to overcome all temptations to give up when loving another seems humanly impossible.
Brothers and sisters, as we mark a new beginning this new year, let us beg for the graces we need to abide in God’s personal, extravagant love for each of us – and allow it to overflow to touch the lives of others. When God’s presence can be seen in our attitudes, words and actions towards others, his invisible nature can be tangibly experienced by others through the way we live our lives.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Corinne Cheok)
Prayer: Give me Lord, a fresh resolve to love with your heart and see others through your lenses in this new year. May I learn to incarnate Christ in my own life, that I not be discouraged when I fail, but simply try again, knowing that it pleases you that I try to love others as you have loved me.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, dear Lord, for sending your Son into our midst and showing us that love can heal, transform and dispel fears that hold us bondage to sin.
OXYGEN 
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