FRIDAY, THIRTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
2 Jn 4-9 Ps 119: 1, 2, 10-11, 17-18 Lk 17: 26-37
LOVE CHARACTERISED BY OBEDIENCE
John is relentless with his proclamation of the Lord’s commandment of love. It is the loudest message in all of his writings. Here too, in the first reading, he exhorts the Christian community to a life of love. And how is this love characterized? “By living according to His commandments”; i.e. according to the teaching of Christ, the Gospel; a love is characterized by obedience. Some however, might be uncomfortable with this characterization of love because in modern parlance, obedience is often seen as something contrary to love. For example, many young couples who are very vocal about their love for each other are equally vocal about their reservations with Paul’s exhortation of spousal obedience.
How then the love John is espousing to be understood? Love of the Gospel commandment, is a love that drives one to give rather than receive. Every act of giving, is an act of sacrifice; and in this case, it is a sacrifice made for the sake of the happiness of the other. Thus, this kind of love is a sacrificial love; i.e., a love by which one chooses to take upon oneself a sacrifice so that the other’s desire may be fulfilled leading to their joy. If the commandments are what pleases God, then one who loves God chooses to be obedient to them, to live according to them. “To love is to live according to his commandments,” says John.
On the contrary however, one who takes upon obedience to the commandments as a burden and an obligation, does not truly love God. Such a one is easy prey for the Deceiver. Take the case of Eve, who committed the first sin. She viewed the divine commandment to refrain from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge as a burden and an obligation; hence the Deceiver was able to lure her into disobedience. John exhorts us: “Watch yourselves.” Do not let an erroneous attitude towards the divine commandments lead you into sin; “do not give the devil his opportunity.” (Eph 4:27)
Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord!
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