By Fr. Roy Cimagala
THAT what the crowd said after they witnessed a miraculous healing of a dumb man by Christ. (cfr. Mk 7,31-37) On Valentine’s Day which is popularly known as a day of celebrating love, we should strengthen our conviction that the real standard of love is when, like Christ, we do everything well and win the same praise from others.
Love is not just sweet words, good intentions and nice feelings. It’s deeds done well. It’s doing things the way Christ would do things. We should love the way God through Christ loves us. This is the only way we can say we are truly loving. We should be ready to go through the whole scope of love as shown to us by Christ. Of course, it is a love that can only be achieved when we truly identify ourselves with Christ.
That means we should always be focused on doing God’s will in everything that we think, desire, say and do, and also in everything that takes place in our life. This is how Christ showed his love for the Father and for us.
In this regard, we should try to forget ourselves and think always of doing the will of God, following the example of Christ, and of thinking always of the others—thinking of what we can do for them. Love should not just be in intentions, but should be translated into action.
We should be clear about this truth of our faith. If we truly have love, the love that comes from God and not just our own idea of love, we would go the extent of willing to suffer and die for our beloved who in the end is none other than God, and because of God, is also everybody else.
And what can be a good sign that we have a true love, and not just some kind of infatuation and the like? I guess the answer can be derived from what Christ himself told us clearly.
And that’s nothing other than when we can manage, with God’s grace, to love not only our neighbor, but also our enemy. Of course, it is a loving with the love of God as shown to us by Christ himself who bore all our sins by offering his life on the cross.
Let’s remember what Christ said very clearly: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.’ (Lk 6,27-29)
He continued: “Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.”
To be sure, if we follow this commandment, we would be loving God and others the way Christ himself has loved his Father and all of us. It’s a love that is totally inclusive on the part of the lover, irrespective of whether such love is accepted or rejected by the beloved.
This, in the end, is what can truly earn us the same praise Christ received from the crowd: “He has done all things well!”
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
