Be love
19 February 2018
Love is simple. Let me show you how.
The parable in today’s Gospel isn’t just about sheep and goats, but about being love.
Jesus calls us to open our eyes here and now to the needs of each other – to the hungry, the homeless, the refugee. We are to identify with each of them, just as Jesus does.
The parable speaks of real love. Of putting into action what your heart desires: through food, drink, clothing, protection. ‘Love’ is not seen as an optional extra, but the primary cause of all that we do. The love of Jesus is not a theoretical love, but a compassionate, merciful love that knows no boundaries and seeks out those in need.
So, what are we talking about? Simply put, Jesus calls us to be a force of love in the world. Otherwise, we are missing the point of life. Everyone – Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, young and old – deserves to be treated with the respect reserved for God.
This is how we can live out the line with the Our Father when we say ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done.’ We are called to be a community of love, realising that at the heart of our community is Christ, present in every one of us. By being love, we are fulfilling God’s will.
The incredible thing about the sheep in today’s Gospel is that they had no idea that what they were doing was the right thing. Their actions weren’t guided by any reward they would receive, rather their entire state of being was guided by love. They saw, they served. As simple as that.
It is only by being love that we can truly live out the message of the Gospel: that we were created out of love, for love.