Jesus said in the gospel, that we are given a new commandment. “Love one another.” Well, what is so new about it? Six years ago I used some quotes from kids ages 4 - 8 to share their thoughts about love. So I want to repeat it here, because maybe they can give us some clues about the “newness” of love.
[Various members of the choir read each statement.]
Karl - age 5 “Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”
Chrissy - age 6 “Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”
Terri - age 4 “Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.”
Lauren - age 4 “I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”
Mary Ann - age 4 “Love is when your puppy licks your face . . . even after you left him alone all day.”
Nikki - age 6 “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend, who you hate,”
Tommy - age 6 “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”
Jessica - age 8 “You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”
Those are pretty good. Jesus continues in the gospel by saying that we will know that we are disciples of Jesus if we have love for one another. Jesus is NOT simply talking about loving those who love us. That’s old stuff. In another part of the gospel he says, “Even pagans (non-believers) do that.”
Did you catch the very first line of the gospel? It said, “When Judas had left them.” So the setting is the last supper and Jesus knows fully well that one of his friends is going off to hand him over to die . . . and he still insists that our call is to love . . . everyone. Even the betrayers!
Mother Teresa, whom we now call Blessed Teresa of Calcutta because she passed the second step of becoming canonized as a saint . . . hence she is “Blessed.” Her canonization is set for September 4. Then she will be called Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Anyway, she writes has a story from her book TOTAL SURRENDER.
She writes: Sometime ago, a man came to our house and said, “Mother, there is a Hindu family that has eight children. They have not eaten for a long time. Do something for them.” So I took some rice and went to their house. I could see the hunger in the children’s eyes. I gave the rice to the mother and she took it, divided it into two, and went out. When she came back, I asked her, “Where did you go?” She said, “Our neighbors are hungry also.”
What struck me most was not that she gave the rice but that she knew they were hungry. Because she knew, she shared. I did not bring more rice that night. I waited until the next morning s that they could experience the joy of sharing and loving.
Love, to be true, has to hurt, and this woman who was hungry also knew that her neighbor was also hungry. The woman was Hindu, the neighbors were Muslim. It was so touching, so real. This is where we are most unjust to our poor . . . we don’t know them. We don’t know how great they are, how lovable, how hungry for that understanding love.
One of deepest realities of life is that we are all one. At the deepest level there is NO difference between you and any other human on the planet. We are all one.
I want you to think of a person, or group of people . . . that you are having a hard time loving. Perhaps they hurt you, or said something that you don’t agree with. Well, it is so easy to get stuck at the surface level of what they said or did. With their words or actions, we start judging EVERYTHING about them as bad. And the truth is, we probably don’t even know them that well. You don’t know their hunger or hurt. You don’t know what struggle they may be going through. And we start interpreting everything from them as “out to get us.”
Well, try this . . . try thinking well of them. Try asking yourself, “Uh, that was a strange response from him/her. I wonder what kind of pain they are going through for them to act that way.” Think well of them . . . instead of only thinking bad of them. Perhaps you could stop griping and gossiping about that person and start to look at the world from their perspective.
Blessed Teresa continues, “Today God loves the world . . . . through you and through me.”
Think of this . . . what if your actions to them, or your words, are the ONLY way that they will know God this week. What if you are the ONLY instrument that God is using this week to love them? What do you usually say to them? How do you usually treat them?
In the second reading, John says he sees a new heaven and new earth. Maybe that newness starts with you.