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JESUS SAYS, Explaining the Gospel Message: Father Brady
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JESUS SAYS Explaining the Gospel message
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Printed image of The good Samaritan in Grace Church Chiangmai, Thailand by unknown artist.
By Father Brady Williams, SOLT
Contributor A wise spiritual guide once pondered that when we get to heaven, the Lord will not ask us, “What did you do for me,” but rather “how well did you receive my love?” Christ gives us a new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
When St. John says in his First Letter (4:10): “Love consists in this, not that we have loved God but that he has loved us,” he emphasizes something that is absolutely essential to us as Christians. Loving as Christ loves, first of all, means that we have come to experience the love that God has for us. If we have not truly accepted this love and interiorized it, then it is impossible to love another person as Christ has loved us. I think this is one of the most crucial aspects of our faith that has to be accepted
JESUS SAYS Explaining the Gospel message
as the foundation of our lives. We first have to recognize that God has loved us first, and He loves us personally. The love of God has to first be received in the depths of our hearts. Then, the love of Christ “impels us” to love one another (c.f. 2 Cor. 5:14).
In contemporary parlance, the word “love” seems to have faded from splendor.
We sometimes distinguish between “love” and “luv”, the first being something weighty and important, the latter primarily a feeling and relatively superficial. But love (caritas/charity) is essentially willing the good of the other. When I was living in Italy, I was struck by the fact that a husband and wife would more commonly say to each other “Ti voglio bene” (literally: ‘I want/will the good for you’), as opposed to the more literal: “Ti amo” (‘I love you!’).
The Italian expression captures the essence of what love is: willing the good of the other. This is how God loves us: He wills the good for each of us.
“That’s amore!”
Now, if that is how God loves us and then commands us to love one another in the same way, what does that entail? In his Gospel, St. John opens the Last Supper discourses with an important phrase: “He loved his own who were in the world and he loved them to the end” (13:1). This love is demonstrated so powerfully in the washing of the feet and in the culmination of Christ’s love for us on the cross. Jesus not only shows us how to love but also gives the power to accomplish it through his grace. Loving to the end is indeed loving as Christ loves us.
I remember reading a moving story about a Catholic college student who befriended a Muslim classmate. They become really good friends and shared with each other their beliefs and way of life.
At one point his Muslim friend, convinced of the truth of Jesus Christ, expressed his desire to convert to Christianity but was afraid that his family would disown him. His Catholic friend didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, he was excited that his Muslim friend had come to believe in Christ and on the other hand, he understood the complexity of his dilemma. He couldn’t just tell his Muslim friend: “well, Jesus said we may have to give up everything in order to follow him.” Easy for him to say; he wasn’t going to lose anything. He realized that he would have to accompany his Muslim friend into the Christian faith (more than just being a sponsor), and that would mean he would have to be willing to be this man’s new family, that he would have to journey with him ‘to the end.’ He was being called to love as Christ loves.
In today’s world we are often tempted to cut off communication with those with whom we disagree or who see things differently than we do. We are willing to offer advice or counsel – even to have the last word – but are we ready to love to the end? Like the Good Samaritan, are we open to being “inconvenienced” by another to help them on the journey and to “pay” for whatever expenses this may incur? God places people in our lives to give us an opportunity to offer the love of Christ Jesus.
Jesus gives us a new commandment: “love one another as I have loved you.”
Christ loved us “to the end,” giving his life so that we may live, and He journeys with us on the pilgrimage of life.
He never gives up on us or leaves us behind. May we, in turn, love as He loved us, by loving one another to the end, despite our neighbor’s weaknesses and failures. For by this shall we be known: if we have loved with the love of Christ.
Fr. Brady Williams is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). He completed his theological studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome in 2003 and was ordained to the priesthood in Corpus Christi in 2004. In 2008 he completed his Licentiate degree in liturgical theology at the Pontifical Atheneum Sant’Anselmo in Rome and was appointed as the Rector of the SOLT House of Studies (2008 – 2012). Among the many opportunities for priestly ministry, Fr. Williams was assistant chaplain at the University of Dallas Rome Campus (2006 – 2011) and ministered to the sick and dying as a hospital chaplain at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI (2012). He was assigned as Pastor of Most Holy Trinity Parish and School in Phoenix, AZ in 2012 – 2013. Currently, Fr. Williams serves as the SOLT General Secretary and as the Novice Servant.
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JESUS DICE Explicando el mensaje del evangelio
DEPOSIT PHOTO
Por el padre Brady Williams, SOLT
Contribuyente Un guía espiritual muy sabio, reflexionó una vez que cuando lleguemos al cielo, el Señor no nos preguntará: “¿Qué hiciste por mí?”, Sino más bien “¿Qué tan bien recibiste mi amor?” Cristo nos da un mandamiento nuevo: “Amaos los unos a los otros como yo os he amado”.
Cuando San Juan dice en su Primera Carta (4,10): “El amor consiste en esto, no en que hayamos amado a Dios, sino en que él nos ha amado”, enfatiza algo que es absolutamente esencial para nosotros como cristianos. Amar como ama Cristo, en primer lugar, significa que hemos llegado a experimentar el amor que Dios tiene por nosotros. Si no hemos aceptado e interiorizado realmente este amor, entonces es imposible amar a otra persona como Cristo nos amó a nosotros. Creo que este es uno de los aspectos más cruciales de nuestra fe que debe aceptarse como la base de nuestras vidas.
JESUS DICE Explicando el mensaje del evangelio
Antes tenemos que reconocer que Dios nos ha amado primero y que nos ama personalmente. El amor de Dios debe recibirse primero en lo más profundo de nuestro corazón. Entonces, el amor de Cristo “nos impulsa” a amarnos los unos a los otros (cf. 2 Cor. 5, 14).
En el lenguaje contemporáneo, la palabra “amor” parece haber perdido su esplendor.
A veces distinguimos entre “amor” y “querer”, siendo el primero algo de peso e importante, y el segundo se refiere principalmente a un sentimiento relativamente superficial. Pero el amor (caritas / caridad) es esencialmente querer el bien del otro. Cuando vivía en Italia, me sorprendió el hecho de que un marido y una mujer se decían más comúnmente “Ti voglio bene” (literalmente: ‘ Te quiero / te haré el bien’), en lugar del más literal: “Ti amo” (‘¡Te amo!’).
La expresión italiana captura la esencia de lo que es el amor: desear el bien del otro. Dios nos ama así: quiere el bien para cada uno de nosotros.
“¡Eso es amore!”
Ahora bien, si así es como Dios nos ama y luego nos manda amarnos los unos a los otros de la misma manera, ¿qué es lo que implica esto? En su Evangelio, San Juan inicia los discursos de la Última Cena con una frase importante: “El amó a los suyos quienes estaban en el mundo y los amó hasta el final” (13: 1). Este amor se demuestra de manera tan poderosa en el lavatorio de los pies y en la culminación del amor de Cristo muriendo por nosotros en la cruz. Jesús no solo nos muestra cómo (medimos) el amar, sino que también nos da el poder para lograrlo a través de su gracia. Amar hasta el final es en verdad amar como Cristo nos ama.
Recuerdo haber leído una historia conmovedora sobre un estudiante universitario católico que se hizo amigo de un compañero musulmán. Se hicieron verdaderamente muy buenos amigos y compartieron entre ellos, sus creencias y su forma de vida.
En un momento, su amigo musulmán, convencido de la verdad de Jesucristo, expresó su deseo de convertirse al cristianismo, pero temía que su familia lo repudiara. Su amigo católico no sabía qué decir. Por un lado, estaba emocionado de que su amigo musulmán hubiera llegado a creer en Cristo y, por otro lado, entendía la complejidad de su dilema. No podía simplemente decirle a su amigo musulmán: “bueno, Jesús dijo que quizás tengamos que renunciar a todo para seguirlo”. Fácil para él decirlo; él no iba a perder nada. Se dio cuenta de que tendría que acompañar a su amigo musulmán en la fe cristiana (no tan solo ser un padrino), y eso significaría que tendría que estar d ispuesto a ser la nueva familia de este hombre, que tendría un viaje de vida con él”. hasta el final. Estaba siendo llamado a amar como Cristo ama.
En el mundo actual, a menudo nos sentimos tentados a cortar la comunicación con aquellos con quienes no estamos de acuerdo o que ven las cosas de manera diferente a nosotros. Estamos dispuestos a argumentar nuestro punto de vista, a ofrecer consejo e incluso a tener la última palabra, pero ¿estamos dispuestos a amar hasta el final? Como el Buen Samaritano, ¿estamos dispuestos a la “inconveniencia” y ayudarlos en el viaje? ¿a “pagar” el precio de lo que esto pudiera ocasionar? Dios coloca a las personas en nuestras vidas para darnos la oportunidad de ofrecerles el amor de Cristo Jesús.
Jesús nos da un mandamiento nuevo: “amaos los unos a los otros como yo os he amado”.
Cristo nos amó “hasta el final”, entregando su vida para que nosotros vivamos, El camina con nosotros en el peregrinar de la vida.
Él nunca se rinde ni nos deja atrás. Ojalá que a cambio, nosotros amemos como Él nos amó: amándonos unos a otros hasta el final, a pesar de las debilidades y fallas de nuestros vecinos. Porque es en esto en lo que seremos conocidos: en si hemos amado con el amor de Cristo.
