We are
continuing our celebration of the Christmas season this week. Our
Christmas celebrations will come to a close this coming Sunday with the
celebration of the Baptism of our Lord. Today we
hear about love in the first letter of John, which is very appropriate in the
Christmas season since the arrival of the Baby Jesus into our world in that
manger in Bethlehem is all about love. Love is a
word commonly used in the Gospel of John and the Letters of John as well. But the
love that John is talking about is not a romantic love, but rather an agape
love that cares about the well-being of the other person and that is a giving
of our very self to the other. We are to give
of ourselves to our brothers and sisters in the same spirit in which God gave
himself to us. If we
forget this concept of self-giving in the way we live out our faith, perhaps we
forget about what our faith is all about. Pope
Francis has asked us to love beyond our differences this year and to reach out
to others in a spirit of peace, solidarity, and brotherhood. May we push
through some boundaries this year that are keeping us from living out agape
love in our lives.
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