LIVING THE TRIUNE LOVE
(a reflection on Mark 12:28-34)
“Love one another as I have loved you.” How did Jesus love? Unconditionally! He came to save the sinner, to restore those who have erred. He was most concerned about the one lost sheep which wandered from the fold. He left the sheepfold and entered into the wilderness to seek out the lost. He left the comfort zone of His ministry, despite the threat of wild beasts, to find the lost sheep and carry it back on His shoulders. There was no compromise in such an action – just pure and holy love. Jesus could do that without hesitation because He was part of the Divine Trinity.
The Trinity has three components to a perfect love: there is the Father Who is pure Mercy, for He gave us His only-begotten Son; there is the Holy Spirit Who is pure Truth, for He infuses the wisdom of the Word of God to us; there is the Son Who is pure Love, for He gave His life as a ransom for sinful humanity. So, if we want to emulate the Trinity's love, we must wed mercy, truth and love together; only then can we deal with all situations as a true Christian.
There are many souls nowadays who do no know how to love themselves, let alone their neighbour. Jesus still loves them unconditionally. He would want to teach them who they really are, namely children of the living God, princes and princesses of the King of kings; He wants each individual to know that they are lovable. There are many souls who have wandered away from the Truth, but Jesus would invite them back, offer them a new start, sit with them, dine with them and teach them by His example and by the truth of His spoken word. He would not judge, as we so often do, but rather extend mercy, truth and love to everyone. Yes, there will be souls who will not like what they hear and they may retaliate. To those, Jesus would present the other cheek, always praying for their enlightenment, always extending forgiveness, always giving mercy, always holding firm to the truth. We too must become willing to go into the desert of the world, accepting the fact that we will be tempted by other's opinions and ways; yet, we too must embrace the power of the Creator with His triple grace of mercy, truth and love. If it had not been for this triple grace, faith would be in vain.
It must become our duty as Christians to imitate the Trinity in these important aspects. The two most important commandments to love God and neighbour should give us complete joy. They should inspire us to become lovable ourselves and not to crumble under the weight of our own guilt. We must extend the horizons of our minds to the reality of the Almighty so that we do not deprive ourselves of a life full of spiritual joy. We are created in God's image; we are children of the light and not of darkness. We were baptized into Him Who is light itself, Who is goodness itself, Who is free of defects and loves with an everlasting love. It is our vocation to be like Him. It is part of our DNA, so to speak, and just needs to be set free by our own act of will.
Unfortunatley, some lose confidence in God's truth through circumstances of life or world conditions. Their hearts become bitter and anger takes over their lives. Their minds become filled with falsehoods, false hope, false love and their hearts become empty while their souls darken, no longer able to reflect the brightness of the light of God. Thus, it becomes imperative for all believers to openly let the world see Christ in us. We must love without limit, become selfless. We must crown love with mercy so that our lives may become divinized with the truth of God.
Jesus told us that He would lay down His life for His sheep. That is the ultimate truth – HE DIED FOR US! It cannot be changed or altered. It is the absolute truth. Love, then, deeply embedded in our DNA, wedded to mercy, and joined with the Truth of God will set our hearts free. It will change the world, one soul at a time. Hopefully, at the end of our lifetime, we can have the same (or even better) record of conversion as the Apostles did. "And 5000 were added to their numbers." That is outstanding!
However, did you ever think how many more souls would be added to our numbers if we ALL lived our vocation as Christians? Even if we brought only one soul to the Lord each day of our lives, can you imagine what kind of a world this would be now? Each of us could potentially bring hundreds of thousands of souls into the sheepfold in our life on earth. In order to change the world, we must LIVE the Triune Love. We must let the world see that we are different, that we are full of the joy that the world cannot give. One by one, we can become members of the family that God intended. Hopefully, we will hear our Saviour say to us: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."