Our Love? A Pay back or A Pass-It-On? | Word from the Shepherd No. 128 | 6th Sunday Easter Year B

6th Sunday Easter Year B
Acts 10:25-48; 1 Jn. 4:7-10; Jn. 15:9-17

Three people were gathered at a railroad station. David was leaving for college. His uncle and aunt (who took him in when he became an orphan) were there. David looked long at them; then at hard and weathered hands; then at their bent bodies; and then at their attitudes of refusing to be called Mama and Papa. David grabbed their hands and said:”How can I ever repay you both?” The uncle replied: “The love of parents goes to their children, but the love of children goes to their children”. Then, the aunt added: “It is not about payback. It is about passing on”.

Love is about passing on, not payback. And this is what we see in scriptures today. It begins by remaining in His love….. loving with His love…. laying down our lives…. and bearing fruits (it is a tangible love). The ultimate love is the ability to see everyone as “friends”.  The above process is the fruit of the interplay of 3 givens:

  1. Love is the being of God; God is Love.
  2. Love is also our being. It is who we are and what we have been created for.
  3. Love moves us beyond. It makes us include others and inspires us to widen the circle.

Love becomes a “passing on and not a payback”when we realise that “He lives in me, and I in Him”. John referred to this relationship as “remain in my love” in the Gospel. The image that comes to my mind is that of a fire fired up by a perpetual fire.

What indicates that we “remain in Him, in His love”?

Fr Richard Rohr said that when we are sparked by God’s love, we do all things with care, presence and intention. It is not about staying put nor becoming aware of the presence of God who is already there. It is not about ‘switch on God’, but more we ‘switch on to God’.

Is there a way to “remain in His love”?

  1.  It is to be centered and rooted in a love that is boundless, endless, all-engulfing, so generous, so caring, so true.
  2. It is to develop a confidence of God’s providence, whether we find ourselves in a land of much bounty or a land with minimal resources.
  3. It is a deepening of our trust, that frees us to take risks; risks that  leads to joy and wholeness
  4. It is our faith that excessively pleads for a unity and reconciliation that is only genuine to our merciful and compassionate God. Our faith seeks to be filled with awe, wonder, gladness, and sometimes even surprise.

              Let our love be a passing on, not be a payback. Let His love be shared amongst us.