This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
As we read the first reading, we are feeling pretty good for the seven churches in Asia. They’ve endured and held on, without growing weary. They’ve shown good judgement in flushing out preachers claiming to be apostles who are not authentic.
But then things get a little dramatic. Their lampstands will be snuffed out if they do not repent of failing in the one area that matters: They have lost the love they had at first.
This reminds us of St. Paul’s famous lines: “If I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.”
Love. That’s it. Love for God, love for others. Focus on these two things in our lives. Love for God as hunger for the complete possession of Him, stoked in prayer; and love for neighbor, in the unconditional and ardent desire for the happiness, temporal and eternal, of the persons around us.
The blind man in today’s Gospel passage is a good example of longing. He longs to have his sight restored, and he has hope in Jesus of Nazareth. So when others are telling him to keep silent, he shouts all the louder: “Son of David, have pity on me!”
Jesus healed him because of his faith in Jesus’ power and because of his persistence. How much more will Jesus give us authentic holiness, that is, union with God, if we ask it of Him with the same sort of passion, the same sort of dogged persistence.
In a homily once, St. Augustine said, “Love, and do what you will.” If we understand love properly, these are all the words we need to live by. Conversely, do what you will without love, no matter how noble, and it will not have value.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus how hard it is for you to grasp what it is to love God and love neighbor in its fullness, and even harder to live this love to the extent that you do grasp it. Tell Him with trust and confidence that you know that He is love itself in human form, and ask Him to transform your heart so that it will become full of that love which fills His Heart.
Follow the Author on Twitter:Follow @mvhaywilliams