How has the love
of God expanded your vision?
In his Last Supper
discourse, recorded in John’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that they must
act always out of love: Whoever loves me will keep my word. If we open ourselves to Jesus, God’s absolute
Word of love for us and for all humankind, we will remain open to relationship
with him and allow that love to define us.
The Word is love is connection:
as Christ is one in the Father, we are to be one in Christ. The source of that oneness is the very love
in which we are made. Moreover, if we
are drawn more deeply into the love of Christ, we cannot help but see ourselves
differently; we can’t hold on to our old identity if we are defined by God’s
love. And our new identity allows us to
see ourselves, and others, in ways we did not before. Jesus opens the disciples to see him with a
new vision, to see him and themselves and everything else in a different,
better light, so that love can last. Love
connects us to other, and God shines through us when we become transparent
through his love.
Paul and Barnabas
have gone out to give witness to that love, and to all that God is doing in
their lives; open to the love of Christ, their knowledge of this love as truth
expands their ability to see, for now they see with their heart. As a result, they can work to eradicate false
teachings in the communities they visit in the Acts of the Apostles, fostering
unity where there might otherwise be dissension. In all they do, Paul and Barnabas model the
love of Christ. Through them, as Psalm 67 says, God’s way is made known upon
earth, and all nations on earth can
be glad and exult. Seeing the
prosperity of the psalmist’s community, others come to believe in God;
likewise, seeing the fruits of the work of Paul and Barnabas will bring many to
believe, again, fostering unity.
In the Book of Revelation, the angel of God expands John beyond the limits that humans
ordinarily set for themselves, giving him a new sense of identity as well. The angel takes
John in spirit to place where
John is extended beyond the body, beyond the physical, to a spiritual place
where his former vision is expanded and John sees what he did not understand
before, because the glory of God gives him light.
As members of the Church, we too are meant to be a body of people living
in the union that this light reveals because we allow God’s love to shine in
us.
How might God’s love
shine in you today?
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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