Our second reading today begins: ‘Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.’ (1 John 4:7)
They are noble words, are they not? But what does it really mean to ‘love one another’? I believe the English word ‘love’ is somewhat inadequate as it is used in so many ways, with many very different meanings. For example, the word ‘love’ has very different meanings in the following expressions: ‘I love my wife’, ‘I love walking in the sun’, ‘I love chocolate’, ‘I love this movie’, ‘I love AFL football’.
So, what does it mean when John urges us to love one another?
St Paul shared his view of love with the Corinthians in chapter 13 of his first letter:
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:1–8a)
I invite you to ponder the question in the light of what you know of the Scriptures generally and in the light of the acts of love demonstrated by Jesus.
Grace and peace to you all,
Chris