love - tuesday after epiphany 2019

Today in our first reading in his first letter, John speaks of love.  He always does.  In fact there is a story recalled by St. Jerome that John when he was already very old and people were all so eager to listen to him since he was the last living apostle, would always speak of only of one thing, “My children, love oneanother!” repeating this every time.  One day he was asked why he kept on repeating the same message.  And hereplied: ‘Because it is the Lord’s commandment,and if you keep just this commandment, it will suffice.” 

What is love?  We always use the word love.  I know some of you here love to eat, they love hibachi, they love their dog, they love their car.  But what is love?  I came across a definition made by a certain Jesuit, who said, love is “a passionate desire for the well-being of the other.”  Not just to wish the good of the other, but a desire that moves us to do something, to do good for the other.

And that is what Jesus does in the gospel.  He can dismiss them all and just say, sorry, Judas our budget officer said we have no budget for you.  But why the preoccupation, why the intense desire to do something about a situation of need?  Because love is “a passionate desire for the well-being of the other.”