SIXTH SUNDAY - EASTER C

PROVING LOVE

Kenny waved goodbye to his mother at the airport with promises of a bright future for his mother and his siblings.  But once working abroad, he spent all his money on a Japanese girlfriend he met there, and he went home penniless.

Connie was tearful as she read the letter of her husband Ambo who works in the Middle East. He wrote about sending their children to college. But the letters, the calls and the texts became infrequent until he was heard of no more, after eloping with a married woman.

Tony’s father, a tricycle driver, gave him all his savings to enroll in college in the big city.  While there, he went out with friends to bars, learned to gamble and failed all his subjects. Who of the three (Kenny, Ambo and Tony) really love family, children, or parents?  The answer is obviously, none!

This Easter, we journey in an adventure of love.  The Lord Jesus reminds us repeatedly about love. Today he says to us: “Whoever loves me keeps my word… Whoever does not love me does not keep my words…” What does “keeping the word” mean? It means being loyal and faithful.  It means proving your love by obedience; obeying the dictates of love even to the point of sacrifice.

This is the very substance of Jesus’ life.  Professing his love for the Father, all his actions proved that he was willing to follow his Father’s desires and plans. Jesus obeyed the impulse of love up to the cross.

The trouble with the concept of love today is that we have reduced love to an empty word, a mushy emotion, an insincere promise, an electronic message.  But this love has no content, no tangible and concrete proof. But the demand of love is that we adhere to what is good and what is right for ourselves and others, just as we see Jesus doing in his life.

Sure, it is difficult to obey.  It is hard to be faithful.  It is inconvenient to remain loyal to one’s promises. But when we do, Jesus gives us the help of the Holy Spirit and a peace that is incomparable to any we have ever known.  Love must be concrete.  Love must learn to sacrifice, to offer, to obey.

Children, do you obey your parents?  Couples do you remain faithful? Politicians, are you sincere? Friends, are we willing to live in truth and goodness? As Christians, what proof of love for God can we show the world?

It is not enough to say “I love you” to God or to our dear ones, if we cannot prove it in our actions, if we cannot “keep the word”. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to sacrifice and obey because we love. And then we will enjoy his peace.