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An Embracing Love

4th Wednesday in the Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs


IN TODAY'S GOSPEL (Mark 6:1-20) the Lord encountered rejection from his own townmates--"A prophet is despised only in his own country, among his relatives and in his own family" (v. 4)--simply because he has been one among them--"Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joset and Judas and Simon... His sisters, too, are they not here among us?" So they took offense at him (v. 3). And in an important moment in his ministerial life, he experienced the difference between the love of his Father and the love of men.
 
By nature, human "love" is selfish. People tend to behave with care on people that they like; not on those they don't. We believe that love is a privilege that you can give to or take from other people depending on how we like them or not. We tend to praise others' accomplishments in close relationship to the extent that such accomplishments reflect or recognize our own contribution to such feats. Otherwise, we normally get indifferent or even envy when we find out that in a certain area of life, others are much better than us, or doing better than we do.
 
Even among families, members tend to minimize the greatness of another's wisdom and accomplishments unless such honor can also be attributed to them by association. I heard many mothers who praised their children's achievements in public not merely because such achievements were relatively extraordinary but because they were elated that they have mothered these children who brought them honor.
 
In short, human love is at best conditional. We love when we know that the objects of our love can love us back now or in the future. And we ignore or even feel repulsed by, those we believe can never love us. We look at the accomplishments of others as "their" accomplishments; thus making us feel inadequate for not being able to do the same. We do not look at these achievements as an expression of the magnificence of God in every person. Ironically, even those who have achieved these great things perceive the achievement as solely their own; rarely a result of the grace of God working in him.
 
Conversely, the love of God is inclusive and unconditional. God loves both the sinners and the Saints, and those many in between. The insult that the sins of mankind made against God cannot dent His love for mankind. His love so burns in Him that no sins can quench it; instead, these sins melt when they come in contact with the love of God. Even the Lord made clear at times what family really means--"Who are my mothers, brothers, and sisters? They are those who follow the will of my Father."
 
That conditional way of loving made the Jews blinded from recognizing the Divine in the Lord despite the many signs he performed among them. Those who knew him growing among them could not believe that someone so ordinary, so among them, exhibits such an extraordinary Wisdom so that they could not attribute such Wisdom as Divine. Even those who were his blood relatives--his brothers and sisters--could not see the difference, the difference of the divine working in him. In fact, Mary and Joseph themselves failed at times to see the Son of God who is him--"Son, why did you do this to us?"
 
This brings us to the point when we need to reflect deeply on the way we love others. Do we love because somehow that love will go back to us? Do we love despite ourselves and our strong personal preferences? Or, do we love because we have been loved by God first, and we want His love to be extended to others regardless of who they are consistent with the unconditionality of God's love? "I let the sunshine over the righteous and the sinners..."
 
FATHER, thank you for once again reminding us of your unconditional love, a love that is so inclusive it hurts You to exclude anyone of us sinners. Thank you for the love that keeps us going despite the many hurts, disappointments, and evils we encounter each day of our lives. That you for the love that nourishes us, that no mother could ever even compare in doing so. Thank you for calling us Your children, of soil we are and minuscule in comparison to the greatness of Your being. Amen.
 
LORD, thank you for embodying before us the love of God, your Father, and ours too. Your example has placed before us a faithful and pure reflection of who the Father is in loving you and in loving us. Thank you also for the love you have for mankind that allowed you to offer your life at the indignity of the Cross, just to show the world that love alone can conquer evil and hatred, and indifference among us. Thank you forever for being our Big Brother who we can look up to for an unblemished example of the love of God. Amen. 
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