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Quick question - who is easier to love, God or your neighbor? Let's think about that. On the one hand, there is God. He is perfect. He loves us infinitely. He wants to help us in every way. He even desires for us to experience complete joy with Him for eternity. Also, and not insignificantly, our mistakes don't keep him from loving us. Now, let's think about our neighbors. In your mind, walk down the street in your neighborhood, or think about the people in your apartment block. Are they all easy to love? We might even expand this exercise outwardly from the small area where we live. Think about everyone at school, at the office, in your parish. Do you love them all?
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells the disciples to "be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:48) And what does 'perfection' entail, in the eyes of God? Jesus lays it out clearly. Being perfect is being like God. According to Jesus, this means we are to love our enemies and "pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for He makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust." God gives his love to everyone, whether they deserve it or not. Just as the sun rises in the morning and shines its light over every space, not just over the spaces who 'deserve it' or who have 'earned it,' but over every area it covers. In the same way, no one earns God's love. It is freely given to all. St. Catherine of Siena, in her Dialogue, explains this more in one of her conversations with God: God says to St. Catherine, "I ask you to love me with same love with which I love you. But for me you cannot do this, for I love you without being loved. Whatever love you have for me you owe me, so you love me not gratuitously but out of duty, while I love you not out of duty but gratuitously. So, you cannot give me the kind of love I ask of you. This is why I have put you among your neighbors: so that you can do for them what you cannot do for me–that is, love them without any concern for thanks and without looking for any profit for yourself. And whatever you do for them I will consider done for me." That's what the simple, paper cross above shows us. This cross was a Religious Education craft, cut and colored in when we were learning about St. Catherine. * The pictures above show the front and back of the same cross. The cross is almost identical on both sides. Only the words are different. We cannot add anything to God's love. God is already complete. So, God asks us to show our love for Him by loving our neighbor. "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt 5:48) And therein is the real problem. God is easy to love when we think He's distant, and that our love for Him doesn't intrude much on our everyday life. But how is it possible to love everyone like God does? Not every one of our neighbors is a super lovable, reasonable, delightful gal or guy. In fact, some of them are downright Not Great. This seems like an impossible task. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, aka the Little Flower and, like St. Catherine of Siena, a Doctor of the Church, gives us some good advice. She says to God that "I know you don't command the impossible. You know very well that never would I be able to love others as you love them, unless you, O my Jesus, loved them in me. Your will is to love in me all those you command me to love." Maybe this Lent, we can focus on letting God love others through us, remembering He is always with us, and not just try do it ourselves. Perhaps this is one of the Hard Places the Holy Spirit is calling us to attend to. Let us pray: Holy Trinity, we pray for the grace to see others as You do. Help us remember that loving our neighbor is the same as loving You. Help us move ourselves aside to let Your love come through. And in all things, let us praise you. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Download and print the Love God/Love Neighbor Cross below. 1. Print one cross first. 2. Turn the page over and print the second cross, so that it is double-sided. 3. Cut it out and color it in, while reflecting on Mat 5:48
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