Love is also tolerance

I found this question put to Chiara Lubich in Feb 1998 which made me reflect especially in the light of recent events and debates. I realise it requires a real conversion of attitude!

If two centuries ago Lord Stanope could say that tolerance, which was once invoked as a grace and then acquired as a right, “would be rejected one day as an insult,” it was because he foresaw that one day - we hope today - people would become sensitive to higher values, like dialogue, that is, not only tolerating the other person, but profoundly respecting him or her, being open to different ideas, building a relationship among true brothers and sisters.  What do you think of this reflection?

Dialogue, however, is a completely different thing, it’s mutual enrichment, it’s loving one another, its feeling that we are already brothers and sisters, it’s creating universal brotherhood on earth, so it’s completely different. Of course, dialogue is true if it is animated by true love. Now, love is true if it is not selfish; otherwise, it’s not love. What kind of love would it be? It would be egoism. In fact, you’ve asked me a number of questions in which you speak of a love that might nurture personal interests, even in dialogue. Such a dialogue would not be built on love, so it wouldn’t even be dialogue, it would be something else.(…)Dialogue means loving, giving what we have within out of love for the other, and also receiving and enriching ourselves. This is dialogue: becoming “world men and women,” as our gen say, people who are open to everyone and who give what they have to everyone.

I remember that when we first began to live this way of life, we followed the path of loving, and we were really convinced that love is not selfish. You must not love in order to win over another person, or to form a little group for yourself. You must not love in order to have an impact, let’s say, in the office or at school. No, you must love simply in order to love. Our motives were supernatural because of our Christian convictions. Here, we can speak of building a brotherhood, this value of universal brotherhood, but never in order to conquer others.

I have to be the first to love, the first to go towards the one that holds the opposite view to me, who does things the opposite way from me, who, in this world’s view would be my opponent! Jesus is always a challenge going beyond what I regard as “sacred” or “essential”, but is it really?

“Dialogue is born of an attitude of respect towards another person, of a conviction that the other has something good to say; it requires that we make space in our head for their point of view, their opinion and their position. Dialoguing involves a heartfelt welcome and not prior condemnation. To dialogue, you have to lower your defences, open the doors of your home and offer human warmth.”

(Bergoglio and Skorka 'On Heaven and Earth')

Today I want to love beyond the difference, make that difference mine!

Don’t hold any resentments.

How easy and quick it is to build up resentments from nothing! It may be a different perspective or way of doing things, it may be impatience on my part, something I expected that didn't happen! Perhaps it is also someone who holds a view or an opinion I don’t share or that is opposed to mine.

How quickly does the resentment develop in my mind into condemnation of the other? Today’s challenge is to love everybody and not to condemn! Reading the text below it is a tall order, but then Jesus always aims high!

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, the Scribes and Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of committing adultery. They said to Jesus, ‘In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ (Jn. 8:5).

They wanted to set a trap for him. If Jesus had shown himself to be against the stoning, they could have accused him of going against the law. According to the law, the eye-witnesses had to begin stoning the one who had sinned, to be followed by the rest of the people. If, instead, Jesus had confirmed the death sentence, they would have made him contradict his own teaching about God’s mercy to sinners.

But Jesus, bending down and writing on the ground with his finger, showed how unruffled he was. He straightened up and said:

When they heard this, the accusers went away one by one, beginning with the eldest. Jesus then turned to the woman and asked, ‘Where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’ (see Jn. 8:10-11).

With these words, Jesus certainly doesn't show himself as permissive in front of evil, such as adultery. His words: ‘Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’ clearly state God’s commandment.

Jesus wishes to unmask the hypocrisy of those who set themselves up as judges of a sister who has sinned, without recognizing that they too are sinners. Like this his words underline his famous declaration: ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make, you will be judged’ (Mt 7:1-2).

Speaking in this way, Jesus is addressing also those who totally condemn others, with  no consideration of the penitence that can well up within the heart of the guilty. And he clearly shows how he treats those who fall: with mercy. When all had gone away from the woman taken in adultery, ‘Two were left,’ as Augustine of Hippo wrote, ‘misery and mercy.’ 

How can we put this word of life into practice?

Let’s remember, as we come before each brother or sister, that we too are sinners. We have all sinned and, even though it seems to us that we've not done anything seriously wrong, we have always to bear in mind that we may not realize the heavy circumstances that caused others fall so low, making them stray from God. How would we have done in their place?

We too, at times, have broken the bond of love that ought to unite us to God; we've not  been faithful to him.

If Jesus, the only man without sin, didn't throw the first stone at the adulteress, then neither can we at anyone whoever it may be.

And so, have mercy for all, react against those impulses that drive us to condemn without pity—we have to know how to forgive and forget. No harbouring in our hearts any lingering judgement or resentment, where anger and hatred can breed and alienate us from our brothers and sisters. See everyone as new.

Having in our hearts, rather than judgement and condemnation, love and mercy for each person, we will help each person begin a new life, we will constantly give courage to start afresh.

Is God Still Love During Times of Illness?

This morning I came across this experience from the Genfest in Budapest, powerful and, from my point of view so true! It made me reflect on how much God loves me in the very small things of my life. I still can love him just believing that all that happens to me is his love for me!

My name is Magued and I grew up in a Christian family. When I was three my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This illness progressed until she was paralysed and blind. From when I was small I learned how to help her together with my dad, my brother and my sister. I dreamed that my mum would get well again, and be like my friends’ mothers, but as time passed I realised that this was not to be.

My siblings and I learned to accept this will of God, to believe that everything contributes to good for those who love God. And we became very united amongst us and were aware of a grace that helped us always.

Six years ago we found out that my sister had a tumour. It was then that I went into crisis with God and could not accept that my sister was ill, so I asked God if I could take her place because I could have dealt with it better. As time passed I accepted my sister’s illness that despite the treatment, was not getting better.

Four years ago my mother died and at that time I felt a great suffering and emptiness in my life. It was as though part of my heart had been detached and gone with her.

Then two years ago, while having a check up about an eye problem, I found out that I had my mother’s same illness. I had just finished university and thought I had a future in front of me…  All of a sudden everything vanished. I was in anguish thinking that one day I would wake up paralysed or I would have lost my sight as she did.  I felt it was the devil who tempted me to start doing everything immediately, even bad things, which later I would not be able to do.  These temptations stopped when I understood that what made me happy was to live each day as if it were my last, in a deep relationship with God.

Then I started a new job, and I met a girl, an angel, who was ready to carry with me all the difficulties that I might meet in future.  Many of my friends say that they pray for me so that I may be cured, but I answer that I pray for them, so that each one of us is ill in some way.

One evening a few months ago my sister phoned me when I was out with my friends, and asked me to come back because she did not feel well.  I went home and sat beside her and we began to pray together. We were not used to doing this but it was as though a voice said to me: “pray with her Magued.” A little while later she felt worse, she leant her head on me and passed away.

In recent months every now and then I had a relapse. I was not able to hold a pen, or I lost the feeling in an arm, and for a while I could not see properly which made the situation at work difficult. When these things happen I remember my mother and my sister, who despite their pain, they had eyes filled with joy and peace. It is as if they were saying to me: don’t be afraid, continue believing in the Love of God and witness it with your life. 

Avoid the temptation of revenge.

For today’s “motto” I came across this powerful reflection by Chiara Lubich. It made me truly reflect on what it really means to love. It is easy when everything “goes to plan”, but when I am hurt…

“But if when you do right and suffer for it, you take it patiently, you have God's approval.” (1 Peter 2:20)

St Peter is showing his communities how the true spirit of the Gospel can be put into practice. In particular he refers to each person's circumstances and position in life. Here he is speaking to slaves who had converted to the faith and who, like all slaves in society at that time, were subject to ill-treatment and incomprehension which were totally unjust. These words are also extended to all those in any time and place who find that they have to put up with incomprehension and unjust treatment at the hands of their neighbours, whether these neighbours are their superiors or their equals. St Peter advises them not to give way to the instinctive reaction which such situations provoke but to do what Jesus would do. He exhorts them to respond with love and to recognise that these difficulties and incomprehensions are a grace that is something permitted by God so that they can demonstrate the true Christian spirit. Apart from anything else, through their love they will be able to bring to Christ even those who do not understand them.

Some people use this sentence and others like it to accuse Christianity of favouring excessive submissiveness, which dulls people's consciences makes them less active in the struggle against injustice. But this is not true. If Jesus asks us to love those who do not understand or who treat us badly, it is not because he wants to make us insensitive to injustice. Far from it! He wants to teach us how to build a truly just society. This can be done by spreading the spirit of true love, beginning ourselves to be the first to love.

Today there are many ways in which we too can be misunderstood or treated badly. They range from a lack of tact and rudeness to ingratitude, malicious judgements, offensive behaviour and really serious injustices.

Well then, on all these occasions we must show to everyone the love that Jesus brought on earth and therefore show love even to those that treat us badly. Whilst rightfully defending justice and truth, we must never forget that our first duty as Christians is to love and to treat others with that new attitude of understanding, openness and mercy that Jesus had for us. In this way, even when we defend our ideas, we will never break relationships, we will never give way to the temptation to resent others or to take revenge on them.

By living like this, as instruments of Jesus' love, we too will be able to bring our neighbours to God.

Be sensitive to the needs of others

The challenge to love always! I cannot be sensitive to the need of others, if I look on my own, however great they may be! Where, there is me there can be nobody else! Looking at myself I cannot love, because the nature of love is to give…always!

We go to God through our brothers and sisters: “those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot god whom they have not seen”(1 JN 4: 20). Today in a time like ours this is what Christians must keep in mind above all.

Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City London, p 78)

As God is very sensitive my needs, so must I be sensitive to the needs of my brothers and sisters, because in them I always find his love for me. Indeed they are the expression of God’s for me. I always find God’s love amazing, when I think that he has created my neighbour as an expression of love for me and vice versa!

“We have passed from death to life because we love on another (1 Jn 3:14). And we are called to live life and to bring life, even if fraternal love costs continuous effort. But this is none other than the characteristic cross of the Christian.

Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City London, p 78)

To love for me means to be alive, to be empty of myself, my thoughts, out of love for God, who became nothing for me out of love. I understood that God’s love always gives keeping nothing. That is the love that we are called to live! It’s a revolution, a turning upside down of all we know!

Living the present in communion

Yesterday, during mass I was reminded how much my life is in God’s hands. Although it looks as if I am currently as well as possible, it does not distract form the fact that I am at high risk of strokes, bleedings and infections that could be fatal! Also the advancement of the tumour could precipitate and make me unwell. Naturally, these are things that worry and because of these worries I would not live fully in the present. But then I read:

The important thing is that the present, the only thing in your hands, not escape you. In it love God with all your heart, doing his will.

Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City London, p 75)

Again I reflect how easy I am distracted by so called practical things without handing them over to God, being concerned only to see the others in love. Then all these things will take their place. It is a new radical way of approaching things putting love first. I found another powerful reflection on living the present:

There are periods in life when time is lived up sip by sip. With holy trepidation you attend, for example, to every moment, every word, every glance, every breath of a loved one facing eternity. That last stage of life becomes valuable because now we are standing at the threshold of death: it is eternity that gives true significance to time. Perhaps it would be a good idea to take each instant of our life sip by sip and, grasping the fleeting moment, live it in love for God, and nail it down for eternity.

(Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City London, p 75)

I only asked God to give me more time to love him in my neighbour more perfectly, allow his love, which is communion, to spread according to his will! In amongst all the distractions I miss on very precious thing:

One thing alone is beautiful, lovable, attractive, useful, radiant: What God wants of [me] in the present moment.

(Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City London, p 76)

How many times do I fail to see that! Put in communion the light comes loving the other in the present!

‘Have I loved?’

Often I reflect how easy I am distracted by things that are simply not important, although at the time they seem to be! I elevate them to the essential to the exclusion of the most important things namely to love being prepared to loose everything out of love. Often I entertain the illusion that there is a tangible and a spiritual aspect of my life and that they are not always compatible. Instead I discovered it is not true: my life with  God is intensely practical and compatible! It’s my lack of faith and my faith in my own abilities that makes my life a misery! So today’s question is good one! I found this prayer by Chiara Lubich which has recalled me firmly into the present!

Time is fast escaping me;

Accept, O lord my life!

In my heart I hold you, the treasure

That must shape every move I make.

Follow me, watch over me; yours

Is my loving: rejoicing and suffering.

May no one catch even a sigh.

Hidden in you tabernacle

I live, I work for all,

May be the touch of my hand be yours,

Only yours be the tone of my voice.

In this rag of myself

May your Love return to this arid world?

with the water that gushes abundantly

from your wound Lord!

Let wisdom clear away the gloomy affliction of many,

Of all. In this way may Mary shine forth

(Chiara Lubich, Essential Writings, New City London, p 75)

‘Have a love that knows no limits’

A love that welcomes our side-tracked neighbour, friend, brother or stranger, and forgives again and again.

The love that celebrates with a sinner who returns more than with a thousand righteous, and gives itself to God with it’s all its intelligence and goods to enable him to demonstrate the prodigal son's happiness for his return.

A love that does not fit and will not be measured.

How quick am I to complain about my neighbours, their way of doing things, their opinions, and their character? At best I am rather polite about it, but the bottom line often is: they really have to change! But that’s not how god loves me! His love is best be compared to a mother’s love making all the excuses for her children no matter what, defending the indefensible!

If I believe that God loves me immensely, without end, always, no matter what why should I not believe that that love is also expressed in the gift my brother/sister in the present moment? I can’t do this on my own, but I can do in communion with the others. Then, I have the light to see the immensity of God’s love for me despite the appearances also in the other! 

‘Beloved, do not grumble against one another’ (James 5:9).

We can respond to any lack in others we think we see by not condemning but loving. Like this we will allow the life of the spirit to grow in us and, at the same time, we will build the community.

For a better understanding of the Word of Life offered us this month, we ought to bear in mind the circumstances that gave rise to it. They were the difficulties appearing in the Christian communities James was writing to. There were scandals, discrimination, a selfish use of wealth, the exploitation of workers, a faith made of words more than deeds, and so on. All of this led to resentment and ill feeling between one person and another, creating an unhappy atmosphere throughout the community.

Even at the time of the Apostles, therefore, we can see what we also find in our communities today. Often the greatest difficulties in living our faith are not those from outside, that is, from the world, so much as those from within. They come from certain situations that arise within the community and from attitudes and actions of our neighbours out of step with the Christian ideal. All this generates a feeling of uneasiness, mistrust and upset.

But even though all these more or less serious contradictions and inconsistencies stem from a faith that is not always enlightened and a love of God and neighbour that is still very imperfect, as Christians our first reaction should not be impatience and inflexibility but what Jesus taught. He tells us to wait patiently, be understanding and merciful, which helps develop that seed of goodness sown in us, as explained in the parable of weeds among the wheat (Mt. 13:24-30; 36-43).

How then can we live the Word of Life this month? It presents us with a difficult aspect of Christian life. We, too, belong to various communities – the family, the parish, the workplace, the civic community and associations of various kinds. Unfortunately, in these communities there may be many things that we feel are not right: attitudes, points of view, ways of doing things, lapses that pain us and make us feel like rejecting others.

These then are many opportunities to live the Word of Life for this month well. Instead of moaning or passing judgement, as we would be tempted to do, let’s be tolerant and understanding. Then, as far as it is possible, let’s also correct one another as brothers and sisters. Above all, let’s give a Christian witness by responding to any possible lack of love or commitment with a greater love and commitment on our part.

See us always new

Think back to Mary to her immense sorrow for having participated so closely in the death of the Son,

but also in her hope of the resurrection which is in her more alive than ever.

And it is Mary the icon of the Christian mystery where the cross and resurrection are one.

And while trying to share her pain, bringing the thought of the risen Jesus, grateful, deeply grateful for all that it means for us and for the world,

According to our faith, and not least, because if He is risen, we will all be resurrected. God loves each one of us immensely! Let’s make this his best Easter by loving one another! Happy Easter. 

Do not let hope be stolen

The Pope last Sunday at his audience explained that Jesus is our friend, our brother and thus a Christian can never be sad. “Our joy comes from having encountered a person, Jesus. (…)We accompany, we follow Jesus, but above all we know that he accompanies us and carries us on his shoulders. This is our joy, this is the hope we must bring to this world of ours. Let us bring the joy of the faith to everyone! Please do not yourselves be robbed of hope! Do not let hope be stolen! (…)Jesus on the cross feels the full weight of evil and with the force of God’s love he conquers it, he defeats it with his resurrection. The Cross of Christ embraced with love never leads to sadness, but to joy, the joy of being saved and do a little what he did that day of his death.”

I asked myself how can I bring that hope. Loving one neighbour at a time by exercising patience and all the qualities of love with them, we enter into communion with the whole of humanity and really give our lives to God, who will take them where they are needed. It is the communion of saints. It is also a way of contemplation because, as Chiara writes, "just as one of a billion hosts is needed to nourish us on God, so is just the one brother/sister, that the will of God puts next to us sufficient - to communicate with Jesus is mystically present in the whole of humanity.”

Jesus Forsaken, semper fi

It was early summer 1943 when a Franciscan religious, said to a young teacher who was Chiara Lubich: "Remember that God loves you immensely."

Words of fire that have upset and have then transformed her life.

And a few months later, on 24th January 44 Chiara meets Jesus crucified and forsaken

and finds in him the boundless love of God for us.

"God (the Father) so loved the world - says the Gospel of John -

to give (Himself) His only Son for us "(Jn 3:16).

Despite the appearances, that would indicate to the contrary, such as strife, disunity, lack of mutual love, illness, there is a reality of his love which I can see only if I have that same love! God loves me immensely! That’s all that counts! All the rest is the pain seen from this earth transformed into love in  paradise: ”My God my God why have you forsaken me?” with that cry Jesus Forsaken you have transformed my pain, our pain,  into love. I cannot but promise you: Jesus Forsaken, semper fi!

Go beyond the suffering

Last night I read a book called “like the sunshine” by Susan Gately. I was very struck by Lieta’s adventure, because although very different, it has certain similarities. One thing that struck me is the enormous presence of Jesus Forsaken with me. A year ago I learnt I that am suffering from an in curable very aggressive brain tumour that could be fatal any moment now. So the first question for me was: “why me? What have I  done wrong in God’s eyes? Then I remembered the words of Jesus on the Cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt 27:46).”

Why? And there was no answer, as with most of my questions beginning with why! Then I look at Jesus, forsaken by his father, alone, ready to throw the towel in, but he goes on believing in the love of his father, even though he cannot see it, on the contrary even though all indication are that this love is no longer there

Pope John Paul II speaks about him at length in his recent letter entitled: “At the beginning of the new millennium”. Among other things, he says that when we speak of Jesus forsaken we confront the most “paradoxical” aspect of the mystery of the cross, before which we cannot but prostrate ourselves in adoration.

And he calls this suffering “paradoxical” because Jesus is one with the Father, whereas in the abandonment he appears to be mysteriously disunited, almost separated from him, and he says that it is not possible to imagine a greater agony, a more impenetrable darkness. However, he adds that Jesus’ cry is not the cry of anguish of a man without hope.

In fact, Jesus faced the trial: when he experienced the most dramatic separation from the Father, he didn’t remain still and frozen: On the contrary! With a paradoxical strength, with a boundless trust, he re-abandoned himself, he reunited himself to the Father saying: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46). And he recomposed the broken unity of human beings with God and among themselves.

So he had done all his part. He had redeemed us and reunited us into one family. Now it was up to us to correspond to this grace and to do our part, do my part: despite the appearance of a terminal illness, with all the restrictions, including pain, fears of dying, how to die, how to cope with day to day living on borrowed time, not feeling prepared to let go. All these feelings and anxieties are very real! As they were for Jesus in the garden of olives! What is my part? To believe that everything is God’s love for me and to discover this love beyond the appearances. I cannot keep this pain just to myself, like an private affair, because everything God gives to me is a gift to my brothers and sisters! We are all an expression of God’s love to one another and therefore we are created to be in communion with each other. By living my suffering well, I contribute to the whole, I am in the present what God wants me to be, now, here: an expression of his love!

This is not a logical, reasoned thing, but it is a gift of faith! If I always go beyond the suffering to love in the present moment I can follow Jesus on the Cross! Lieta has confirmed this to me by her life! Jesus Forsaken is real, more real than perhaps the things we can see and touch. He is real to the senses of my soul! 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt 27:46).”

Given that we are approaching Easter, I reflected a bit on how much God loves me, each one of us, us as humanity. We are “designed” to be in a relationship of unity with one another
When unity is broken, when you experience the suffering of disunity, the remedy that the spirituality of the Movement proposes is this: Jesus crucified and forsaken.
But who is Jesus forsaken?
In order to understand this, I must tell you about another episode from the early days of the Movement.
The war was raging and in reading the Gospel, we, first focolarine, had found the description that Jesus gives of when he will come to judge all men and women at the end of the world. He will say to the good: “I was hungry and you gave me food”. And the good will ask: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?” And Jesus will reply: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).
Once we had understood this, I remember that we would go around the city looking for the poor and giving them whatever we had.
Not only this. We had identified the three poorest neighborhoods in the city and, entering dark and desolate hallways and climbing old and dangerous flights of stairs, we would visit the elderly who were abandoned, sick, and lonely.
One day, one of my companions went to visit a little old lady out of love for Jesus. She cleaned her poor, shabby room, fixing her bed, washing the floor and all the rest.
Because of these acts of love, she caught an infection on her face which was now covered with sores. But she didn’t mind; indeed, she was happy to be a little similar to Jesus crucified.
I had gone to visit her on a very cold day, and because she wanted to receive Holy Communion, we thought of inviting a priest to her home so that he could bring it to her.
The priest came, and before leaving, he asked us: “Do you know when Jesus suffered the most?
We answered according to the common mentality among Christians at that time: “In the Garden of Olives”, where Jesus sweat blood because he had begun to experience sadness and anguish. He said: “My soul is sorrowful to the point of death.”
We really believed that that was his greatest suffering.
But the priest affirmed: “No, Jesus suffered the most when, on the cross, he cried out: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt 27:46).”
He said this and then he left.
We were deeply impressed by these words of his, convinced that it was the truth because said by a minister of God.
At the same time, because we were young, because we wanted to live a lively and authentic Christianity, but especially because of the grace of God, we felt a strong impetus to follow Jesus in that very moment of his abandonment for the rest of our life.
So as soon as we were alone, I said to my companion: “We have only one life. Let’s spend it in the best possible way! If Jesus suffered the most when he felt abandoned by his Father, we will follow him forsaken.”
At that time, no one spoke of Jesus forsaken, except for some rare theologian. Instead, quite soon we tried to understand more about his immense torment, and we have done so throughout all these years.
But during these past weeks, we had the very great joy of hearing our Pope John Paul II speak about him at length in his recent letter entitled: At the beginning of the new millennium. Among other things, he says that when we speak of Jesus forsaken we confront the most “paradoxical” aspect of the mystery of the cross, before which we cannot but prostrate ourselves in adoration.
And he calls this suffering “paradoxical” because Jesus is one with the Father, whereas in the abandonment he appears to be mysteriously disunited, almost separated from him, and he says that it is not possible to imagine a greater agony, a more impenetrable darkness. However, he adds that Jesus’ cry is not the cry of anguish of a man without hope.
It is the prayer of the Son who offers this tremendous sense of abandonment, of separation from the Father, in order to reunite all people to God, detached as they were by sin, and to reunite all people with one another.
Therefore, Jesus forsaken reunited what was separated.
This is why, quite soon, this mysterious suffering of his appeared to us as being linked precisely to the unity I spoke about before.

In fact, Jesus faced the trial: when he experienced the most dramatic separation from the Father, he didn’t remain still and frozen: On the contrary! With a paradoxical strength, with a boundless trust, he re-abandoned himself, he reunited himself to the Father saying: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46). And he recomposed the broken unity of human beings with God and among themselves.
So he had done all his part. He had redeemed us and reunited us into one family. Now it was up to us to correspond to this grace and to do our part.

To some extent, we have all experienced division, disharmony, abandonment in and outside of ourselves.
Is there anyone who does not in some way feel separated from God when a bit of darkness invades his soul? Is there anyone who has not experienced doubt, perplexity, anxiety, confusion? All these sensations remind us of Jesus precisely in his abandonment; on the cross, he doubted, he was puzzled, he asked “why?”.
Well then, when we experience one of these sufferings, what should we do? We should think: “This suffering reminds me of him; I am a little like him. But I don’t want to stop. Like him, I embrace this trial: I want it; I love him, Jesus forsaken, in this trial.
And often, we realize that in doing so and in continuing to love, that suffering disappears and peace returns.

We can also experience small or big divisions in the small communities we live in – in our families, groups, offices, schools – and this causes great suffering. There too, we can recognize the presence of Jesus forsaken and our love for him makes us capable of personally overcoming that suffering within us and of doing all we can to recompose unity with the others.
The same applies to the greatest realities, like those of our Church. We must work, suffer, and love, and if unity is lacking, we must recompose it among people, among different groups, and so on. In this way we will build up the Church as communion which is what the Holy Spirit wants today. (…)
If only a few lived like this we soon will not find ourselves alone in our daily sufferings and pains. We will discover the immense love of God for us, as Jesus did once he continued to love (“into your hand I commend my spirit”)

The gift of Jesus amongst us

I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him. I am no longer trying for perfection by my own efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law, but I want only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ, and is from God and based on faith. All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death. That is the way I can hope to take my place in the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.

This morning’s letter by St Paul struck mi quite forcefully, because it seems that I am running towards the prize. I find it very consoling that the kind of perfection that comes not of my efforts but from our efforts. It’s a truly communitarian life, with Jesus present amongst us! St Paul encourages me to live 100% in the present! Perfection is in loving and my point of arrival is Jesus on the Cross, to live like him in the physical agonies of a decaying body with all the pains, but a soul which is living in unity with its big brother, who has already gone ahead! I feel so privileged so lucky to have that gift of Jesus amongst us! 

Jesus on the cross, our only good

This morning I woke up after a restless night. The results of the scan revealed a worsening of the general condition, ie the tumour has grown deeper into the brain making a further operation impossible. I realized that the divine adventure goes on! I immediately thanked Jesus! Then I offered him my life. I thanked him for my current state of health, for the opportunity to love, to learn more about Him on the Cross, God, my all, for the peace I feel inside, the lack of physical pain, for the immense love of the brothers and sisters, expressing itself through many signs outside! I have the impression in these days to enter into a reality that’s more spiritual than human, where naturally much is hidden from the eyes of this world. For this reason, the “nothing” in this world is the “all” of there, pain here, is love there! The faith here is the reality there! All made one through Jesus on the cross, our only good.

Who loves passes from death to life

During a very difficult period in their development John writes to the Christian communities he founded. Heresies and false doctrines concerning matters of faith and morality have started to spread. Christians are living in a pagan environment which is difficult and hostile towards the spirit of the Gospel.

To help them the Apostle points out a radical solution: to love one's neighbour, to live the law of love they have received from the beginning, the law which he sees as being a summary of all the other commandments.

If they do this, they will know what 'life' is; more and more they will grow in union with God and experience that God is Love. Through this experience they will be confirmed in the faith and will be capable of facing every assault, especially in times of crisis.

We know the Apostle refers to an awareness which comes from experience. It's like saying: we have experienced it, we have touched it with our own hands. This is what the Christians evangelised by John experienced at the beginning of their conversion. When you live God's commandments, particularly the commandment of love for your neighbour, you enter the very life of God.

But do present-day Christians have this experience? Of course they know that God's commandments have a practical aim. Jesus continually insists that it is not enough to listen to the Word of God; it must be lived (Mt. 5:19) (Mt. 7:21) (Mt. 7:26).

Instead, what most people are not so sure of, either because they don't know it or because they have a purely theoretical knowledge without having experienced it, is the marvellous aspect of Christian life which the Apostle stresses here, namely, that when we live the commandment of love, God takes possession of us. An unmistakable sign of this is that life, peace and joy he gives us to enjoy already here on earth. Then everything becomes filled with light, everything becomes harmonious. Faith and life are no longer separated. Faith becomes the driving force which pervades all our actions and binds them together.

This Word of Life tells us that love for our neighbour is the royal road which leads us to God. Since we are his children, there is nothing closer to his heart than love for our brothers and sisters. We can give him no greater joy than when we love our brothers and sisters.

Because brotherly love leads us to union with God, it is an unending source of interior light, it is the fount of life, of spiritual fruitfulness and of continual renewal. It prevents the 'gangrene', 'sclerosis' or 'paralysis' which can form in the Christian community. In short, brotherly love makes us pass from death to life. Instead, when charity is missing, everything decays and dies. And this explains certain symptoms which are so widespread in today's world: a lack of enthusiasm and ideals, mediocrity, boredom, a desire to escape, the loss of values, etc.

The 'brothers' John is speaking of here are above all the members of the communities we belong to. If it is true that we must love everyone, it is also true that we must begin by loving those with whom we live so that we can then extend this love to all humanity. So we must begin with our families, the people we work with, the parishioners in our parish, the religious organisations and communities to which we belong. Love for our brothers and sisters wouldn't be real and according to the right order if it didn't start here. We are called to build the family of the children of God wherever we are.

This Word of Life opens up immense horizons. It inspires us in the divine adventure of Christian love which leads us along unforeseen paths. Above all, it reminds us that love of our neighbour is the answer to give to a world in which theories of struggle, of survival of the fittest, the shrewd and the unscrupulous, are proclaimed, and in which everything seems to be paralysed by materialism and selfishness. This is the medicine that can heal the world. Living the law of love invigorates not only our lives but affects everything around us. It's like a wave of divine warmth which radiates and spreads, penetrating human relations, melting personal and group relationships and gradually transforming society.

Let's make a decision. We all have brothers and sisters to love in the name of Jesus. We always have them. Let's be faithful to this love and help many others to do the same. We will discover within our soul what union with God means. Our faith will be renewed and our doubts will fade, boredom will no longer exist. Life will be full: very, very full.

Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” ’ (Mt 9:13).

‘... I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

Do you remember when Jesus said these words?

While he was having dinner one day, some publicans and persons of ill-repute came and sat at the table with him. As soon as the Pharisees noticed this, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ Upon hearing this, Jesus replied: 

‘Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” ’

Jesus is quoting the prophet Hosea (Hosea 6:6), which shows that he likes the idea it contains. 

In fact, it is the principle he himself follows. It expresses the primacy of love over any other commandment, over any other rule or precept.

This is Christianity: Jesus came to say that what God wants from you, in your relationships with others – whether men or women – before anything else is love, and that this will of God has already been proclaimed in Scripture as the words of the prophet show.

Love is the agenda of life for all Christians, the basic law of their actions, the yardstick of their behaviour.

Love must always come before other laws. Indeed, love for others has to become the firm foundation on which a Christian validly puts into practice every other principle.

‘... I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

Jesus wants love, and mercy is one of its expressions.

He wants Christians to live like this, above all else because God is like this.

In Jesus’ eyes, God is, in first place, the Merciful One, the Father who loves everyone and who makes the sun rise and rain fall on the good and the bad.

Because Jesus loves everyone, he is not afraid of associating with sinners, and in this way he reveals to us who God is.

If God, then, is like this, if Jesus is like this, you too must have the same feelings. 

‘... I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

‘... and not sacrifice.’

If you do not love your neighbour, your worship will not be pleasing to Jesus. He does not welcome your prayers, your Church-going, your offerings, if they do not flower from a heart at peace with everyone, rich with love towards all.

Do you remember the extremely powerful words of the Sermon on the Mount? ‘So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift’ (Mt 5:23-24).

These words tell you that the worship most pleasing to God is love of neighbour which should be the basis even of worshipping God.

If you wanted to give a present to your father while you were angry with your brother or your sister (or your brother or your sister were angry with you) what would your father say? ‘Make peace between you and then come and give me anything you want.’

But there is more. Love is not only the basis of Christian living. It is also the most direct way of being in communion with God. We are told so by the saints, the witnesses of the Gospel who have gone before us, and it is experienced by Christians who live their faith. If they help their brothers and sisters, above all the needy, their devotion grows, their union with God is strengthened, they feel that a bond exists between them and the Lord, and this is what gives most joy to their lives.

‘... I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

How can you live this new Word

Do not discriminate between the people you are in touch with, do not treat anyone as less important, but offer everyone as much as you can give, imitating God the Father. Patch up minor or major disagreements which are displeasing to heaven and bring bitterness to your life. As Scripture says, do not let the sun set on your anger with anyone (see Eph. 4:26).

If you behave like this, all you do will be pleasing to God and will remain in eternity. Whether you are working or resting, whether you are playing or studying, whether you are with your children or going for a walk with your wife or husband, whether you are praying or making sacrifices, or fulfilling the religious practices of your Christian vocation, everything, everything, everything is raw material for the kingdom of heaven.

Paradise is a house we build here and dwell in there. And we build it with love.

Love your neighbour as yourself. (Matt. 22: 39)

These words can also be found in the Hebrew scriptures (Leviticus 19:18), and Jesus quotes them in response to someone who had been trying to catch him out with a trick question. His answer is in line with a well established rabbinical tradition, begun by the prophets, which tried to understand God’s teaching in the Torah by looking for a unifying principle in all its books. One of Jesus’ contemporaries, Rabbi Hillel, had written, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is all there is in the Torah. All the rest is merely explanation." (1)
All Jewish teachers saw love of neighbour as a consequence of loving God. After all, He had created humanity in his own image and likeness, so it was impossible to love God without loving the people he had made. So this is the real motive for loving our neighbour. It is what has been described as "a great and general principle of the law." (2)
Jesus highlighted this principle, and he pointed out that the command to love your neighbour is similar to the first great commandment: ‘love God with all your heart, mind and soul’. In emphasising the similarity between these two commandments, Jesus bound them together inextricably, and Christian tradition has preserved the link ever since. As the apostle John so clearly states: "If someone does not love the brother or sister whom they have seen, how can they love God whom they have not seen?" (1 Jn 4:20).
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The entire Gospel shows clearly that ‘our neighbour’ is every human being, man or woman, friend or enemy, to whom we owe respect, consideration and esteem. Love of neighbour is both universal and personal. It embraces all of humanity and finds concrete expression in the person who is next to us.
But who can give us such a big heart, and stir up in us such a degree of kindness that we feel close to, and regard as neighbours, those who are least like us? Who can make us overcome our self-love, so that we recognise this "self" in others? It is a gift from God. Indeed it is the very love of God which "has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us". (Rm. 5:5).
So it’s not an ordinary love. It’s not just simple friendship or philanthropy. In fact it is nothing less than the love which was poured into our hearts at baptism. This love is the life of God himself. It is the life of the blessed Trinity, in which we participate.
So love is literally everything, but if our love is to be authentic we need to learn something about its qualities as they are described in the Gospel and more generally in Scripture. A few fundamental points sum them up:
Jesus died for everyone. By loving everyone he teaches us that true love is to be given to all. Often the love in our hearts is simply human. It confines itself to relatives, friends and a few others. But Jesus wants our love to be free of discrimination, having no regard for whether people are friendly or hostile, attractive or not, adults or children. This love doesn't notice whether people are members of my Church or of another one, of my religion or another. True love loves everyone, and we should do the same: love everyone.
True love makes us want to be the first to love instead of waiting for someone else to love us. Generally speaking, we love because we are loved, but the Father sent his Son to save us while we were still sinners and therefore not loving. So true love takes the initiative. In other words, we should love everyone, and we should be the first to love.
True love sees Jesus in every neighbour. At the final judgement Jesus will say to us, "You did it to me", (Cf. Mt. 25:40) and this will apply to the good that we do and also, unfortunately, to the bad we do.
True love makes us love both friends and enemies alike, praying for them and doing good things for them. Jesus wants the love that he brought on earth to become mutual so that one person loves the other and vice versa, in order to achieve unity.
All these qualities of love help us to understand and live the Word: Love your neighbour as yourself. (Matt. 22: 39)
True love means loving others as we love ourselves. This should be taken literally. We should truly see the other person as another self and do for them what we would do for ourselves. True love leads us to suffer with those who are suffering and to rejoice with those who rejoice, carrying other people's burdens. As Paul says, it causes us to makes ourselves one with the person who is loved, so it is not just a question of feelings or words. It involves real action.
People of other religious convictions try to do the same thing by putting into practice the so-called 'Golden Rule,' which can be found in all religions. It wants us to do to others what we would like others to do to us. Gandhi explained it very simply and effectively: "I can't harm you without hurting myself".
So this month could be an opportunity to re-focus on love of neighbour. Our neighbour has so many faces: the person next door, a classmate, a friend or a close relative. But there are also the anguished faces of humanity that television brings into our homes from war-torn cities and natural disasters. In the past they were unknown to us: they were thousands of miles away. Now they too have become our neighbours.
Love will suggest what we should do in each situation, and, little by little, it will open our hearts to the greatness of the heart of Jesus.

Believe our neighbour beyond appearance

How quick do I jump to conclusions purely because what I see or hear? Then my belief in the love of my neighbour vanishes and I judge the person, my brother or sister. (http:Love of my brother/sister I found this text written by Chiara which helped me to understand better how I can love the person next to me in the present moment