Friday, October 14, 2016

John, Chapter 14, Verse 28-31

²⁸ You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I ²⁹and now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, ³¹but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.

The Father has commanded total love, and the world will soon know that this is what the Son will give. “Get up, Let us go.” Jesus states He will go (His death) but he will return through the Holy Spirit. Just as the disciples see Jesus now so they will soon know of his union with the Father, which union he will share with them. The disciples who love will be loved by both the Father and the Son, who through the Holy Spirit will reveal himself to them. This is the Christ who gave Himself to the Father and now redeems all who ask through the water and blood that flowed from His side to us via the priesthood coming down through the ages. Be baptized, confess and take His flesh and eat. This is the love of the Father that all be saved.

Amoris Lætitia[1] Love in Marriage; Love believes all things (114-115)

Love believes all things. This goes beyond simply presuming that the other is not lying or cheating. Such basic trust recognizes God’s light shining beyond the darkness, like an ember glowing beneath the ash. Love trusts, it sets free, it does not try to control, possess and dominate everything. This trust enables a relationship to be free. It means we do not have to control the other person, to follow their every step lest they escape our grip. This freedom, which fosters independence, openness to the world around us and to new experiences, can only enrich and expand relationships. The spouses then share with one another the joy of all they have received and learned outside the family circle. At the same time, this freedom makes for sincerity and transparency, for those who know that they are trusted and appreciated can be open and hide nothing. Those who know that their spouse is always suspicious, judgmental and lacking unconditional love, will tend to keep secrets, conceal their failings and weaknesses, and pretend to be someone other than who they are. On the other hand, a family marked by loving trust, come what may, helps its members to be themselves and spontaneously to reject deceit, falsehood, and lies.