Friday of 5th Week of Eastertide
Acts 15:22-31
Jn 15:12-17
Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment, love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.“
Is there anyone you would give your life for? I always thought it impossible to consider giving your life for another, until I had children — I can imagine giving my life for them. An ultimate sacrifice for the good of another. We do know what it is to make sacrifices, but not to the point of laying down our lives. Risking our lives, perhaps, but since we are all still here, safe to say we haven’t made that ultimate sacrifice yet.
It also struck me that laying down your life for another is significant because it means both lives are of equal worth. And this is exactly how Jesus sees us — each person of infinite worth and dignity. And we are called, first and foremost, to see one another through those eyes of His so that we can see one another as equals. And this recognition of the worth of each human person underpins Jesus’ exhortation to love as He did. For if we do not deign to consider someone else as worthy of our time and effort, we will not be able to love them.
Let’s not dwell on giving up our lives for someone else. That is rather extreme and hard to imagine, although I am sure that when it comes down to it, many will be able to do just that. Let us dwell rather, on loving others as Jesus did, and on seeing others as worthy of love. This includes ourselves.
Remember that Jesus died for all of us. That means you as well. He thinks you are worth it. You, made with love, and given the dignity as a child of God. You, fully deserving of love. Are you loving yourself as Jesus loves you? Are you seeing yourself as Jesus sees you? He calls you his brethren and he has given his mother to us as our mother. Mary is one more person who loves us infinitely.
How does Jesus love us? Indeed we are loved to no end. But it is not an indulgent nor permissive love. It is a love that while patient and kind, can also be harsh with the truth. That is because this love demands the very best from you and believes that the best version of you exists. This love trims away what is not fruitful. It burns away what does not dignify. It tears away all that can harm you, leaving behind what is pure and good. And this process stings and hurts; but shedding our old calloused selves will always be a bit painful due to the sting of remorse. It is worth it, however, to become as God intended us to be. Are we willing to love ourselves into a new way of life?
After learning to love ourselves the way we are meant to be loved, we can now turn our focus to loving others. We can only be able to do that once we see that everyone else is a human person of the same worth as we are, and their value cannot be measured by how useful they can be to us. How we should love others is how Jesus loved us; basically, we should be loving others in a way that lets them become better. The concrete things we can do are actually summed up by the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy, and mercy stems from love.
We often are compelled to act when we see something not right. When something seems unfair or lacking, we have an innate desire to make it balanced, so as to alleviate the suffering that is a result of that unfairness. We want to restore the sufferer back to wholeness, material or spiritual. As we have just come out of Lent a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but notice that this very much resembles almsgiving. Almsgiving can be a monetary donation, or it could be giving of your time, your presence, even your prayers for someone in need. And why shouldn’t we practise almsgiving on a regular basis? It is not difficult to make a small sacrifice, out of love, for the good of another. Perhaps you have been thinking about this already, so take this as a sign to start!
My brothers and sisters in Christ, as soon as we see just how much we are loved, how unconditional God’s love for us is, and how much Jesus was willing to sacrifice for us, we too will be able to love ourselves with that purest of loves. We can also then see the path we are to take in order to live a life befitting of a beloved child of God, which involves sharing that love and bringing the light of Christ to others.
In this Easter season, we are all feeling renewed and joyous. Let us seize this moment to share our joy with those worth the love. That is to say, everyone, including ourselves.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)
Prayer: Dear Lord, we pray that you open our eyes and our hearts so that we see ourselves the way you see us, and we love ourselves the way you love us. Give us the faith and courage to share your love with others whom you love as well.
Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for Your unending love and patience for us, even when we fall so many times.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment