It will only be through love

I believe, perhaps naively but also with conviction, that if this world becomes a more liveable place it will only be through love; the love which the Jew Paul speaks about to the Corinthians in Chapter 13 of his first letter... ~ Etty Hillesum, Westerbork Camp, 1942

Today's Gospel is a simple one. There are no obscure statements to Nicodemus, no metaphors, or loaded hints about the manner of Jesus' passion and death, or even parables requiring explanation. No, all we have are simple words, to take us to the heart of our Faith, and the greatest of all commandments, which must underpin our entire lives: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind... And you must love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22: 37-40)

And that's it. Love God with everything you have and are; with every action and thought and every fibre of your being... and the natural outpouring of this in loving your neighbour; in selflessness, kindness, patience, compassion, understanding... 

It's as simple as that - and as challenging and as difficult as that!

Reflecting on this, I recalled a letter sent to the Society by our then Superior General, almost twenty years ago, and in the midst of a world filled with war and oppression and natural disasters. What, she asked, can we really do to have an effect on our world? What is the call of this moment that is within each one's grasp, and to which each one can respond? The answer was to deepen our love. This, she knew, was our deepest desire; but also a constant challenge, touching the depths of our human frailty, and our wounds. We know what we are called to, but so often we fall short. And thus we need to begin again and again, becoming people of deep, intense prayer, open to receiving the graces, healing and strength with which to live what is most basic to our vocation, and our mission. 

Will it make a difference to a world engulfed in war and hatred, and humanitarian crises? Well, it will make a difference to my little corner of the world, and to yours; and for most of us, that is all we can do. It was all Etty Hillesum could do, as she awaited her eventual extermination in Auschwitz; it is all many of us can do, apart from prayer, in our powerlessness and anguish. We can love God - utterly, overwhelmingly, and our neighbour equally: and we can do this knowing that there is power in even the smallest act of love, and in goodness, which find their source and their hope in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, Love made flesh, here among us. 

If this world is to become a more liveable place it will only be through love...