Love As “Is” Not “Should Be”
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus is rejected by his family and neighbors in Nazareth. How could someone who was being lauded and praised by all the surrounding communities be rejected and hated by the citizens of his own village?
Maybe it had to do with unfulfilled expectations. When people don’t meet our expectation of who they ought to be, or if they don’t act in a manner that corresponds with our expectation of their behavior, we sometimes get perturbed. When the reality of Jesus didn’t meet the expectations of the people of Nazareth, they wanted to drive him over a cliff.
The reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians defines how genuine love is not grounded on one’s expectations of what others “should” be, but rather chooses to love them as they are. St. Paul says, “love is patient and kind… it does not seek its own interest… it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
The world we live in today seems to place many expectations on people based on who they are perceived to be. It labels people as “this” or “that.” We tend to define people by their political or religious affiliation, skin color or ethnicity or by where they live. But God’s word invites us to love the way St. Paul describes.
A good self-exam might include substituting your own name in the place of the word “love” in Paul’s writing. For example, Gary is patient and kind, Gary is not jealous or pompous. Gary is not inflated or rude. Gary bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Try substituting your name and see if the resulting sentence reflects reality. Do you love in the manner Paul describes?
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
