LOVELIFE

October 29, 2023 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102923.cfm)

A story once told about the Dalai Lama and the world leaders. Once, the Dalai Lama was invited as the keynote speaker to a gathering of world leaders. The world leaders were looking forward for this gathering in order to hear from the Dalai Lama about his message to the world today. They have heard and known a lot about the Dalai Lama. Now they are excited to meet the Dalai Lama, himself and hoping that he could offer some perspectives and solutions on our world of war, conflicts, strife and divisions.

As the Dalai Lama arrived at the venue, he was received with great honor and applause.  Before the world leaders, he said: “My simple message to you and to the world is “Love one another”. Then he went back to his seat and kept quiet. The world leaders were all shocked with the simplicity of his message. They commented: “That’s all. We just came to hear such stupid message? We have heard it before. There is nothing new about his message. Does he think we don’t know about it?” So, they were frustrated. Some of them started to walk out and insulted the Dalai Lama and the organizer. And then suddenly, the Dalai Lama stood up, went back to the podium and addressed the plenum. He said to them, “If you find it difficult to practice love, try not to hurt each other.”

In our gospel today, Jesus gives us also a simple and direct message: “LOVE”. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, your soul and mind. And to love another as yourself.

Like the Pharisees of his time and the world leaders in the story, we can say that we also have heard it before. There is nothing new about such message. But sad to say to you, Jesus has the same message for us now, especially now in the world of war, division, contradictions and political turmoil: LOVE. As it was from the beginning, now and always be, Jesus has the same message to us Christian & for the world today: LOVE.

We emphasize however that for Jesus, to love is not only a commandment that we should be aware and conscious of. Love for Jesus is not a Concept or Idea but a Reality. Each of us has not only known about love & know what love is, but we also have experienced what and how it is to love. As a song suggest, we were born because of love, therefore we must also live in love. Because God loves us through others, we must also love God in return through others. Love is also an Action, meaning we must also practice love with one another. It is not enough then to just believe in love, but we must put love into practice and proclaim love by our words and actions. To love God and loving others, then is a Decision. We love God and others because we are not commanded to do so, but we choose to do so. We choose to love God and others. The word “Love” then is not only a noun, but also a verb & our resolution.

Henri Nouwen, a modern day spiritual Christian guru once said: “In the Scripture, God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This is a very fundamental truth of your identity. This is who you are whether you feel it or not. You belong to God from eternity to eternity. Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say: “I love you, too”. Meaning, our earthly life here now as God’s children is our chance to love God in return thru others. Loving others then is our opportunity to respond back & say “I love you too” to God’s love for us. Yes, loving others is our response to God loving us, and loving us is God’s response to our loving Him & others.

Perhaps we ask ourselves: How’s your lovelife? How is you life of love here & now? Do we love God with all our heart, soul and mind? Well, we might not be perfect in doing so, but that is what we are trying & committing to do. But the best way to test our love of God is: do you love your cranky husband or wife? Do we still love our aging irritable parents? Can we still love our neighbor who cheated us, our friend who betrayed, our relative who hurt & disrespect us?

Yes, experience tells us that to love God in others is difficult. But for Jesus, in loving God here & now, we must experience, put into practice and choose Love in our lives and in our world today. At the same time, as the Dalai Lama reminds us: “If you find it difficult to practice love, try not to hurt each other.”