After a long, tough week marked by the usual turmoil and stress, it’s easy to forget that our fundamental calling is to love. In I Corinthians 13, St. Paul gives us a long list of things love “is.” Easy ain’t one of ’em. And yet Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.” We have to love, no matter how tired we are, or disappointed, or pissed off. Whether the other one is right or wrong on this or that. Whether it’s the jag in the combox or the jerk riding up your back bumper, the bill collector calling or the family member who just let you down again, we have got to do it. We have to remember the words of St. John of the Cross: “In the evening of life, we will be judged by love alone.” Not by being pious, or observant, or by having all the right answers. “By love alone.”
In the following clip, one of my heroes, Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, says loving what and who you find before you is not just the path to heaven … it is heaven. All the more reason to begin now.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In