A seminary professor once told us that seminarians who do not frequently experience the merciful love of God in the sacrament of Reconciliation often will be heartless and hurtful confessors in the future.
He emphasized that we cannot show compassionate love for any one, especially the penitents in the confessional, if we do not receive the love of God first in the face of all our sins. Without this supernatural love, we will depend on our natural love that only loves those who do good to us, those who meet our standards, or those from whom we can benefit. We cannot love as God is calling us to if all we have is our natural love.
In Colossians 1:15-20, St. Paul describes that supernatural love that only Jesus Christ brings to us by the power of His Spirit.
Supernatural love is a selfless love.
Jesus does not love us because of what He can get from us or what we can do for Him. There is nothing that we can give to Him that He does not already own; “For in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible . . . all things were created through Him and for Him.” He freely chooses to love us, whether we love Him back or not, and whether we obey or disobey Him.
Supernatural love is self-sacrificing and life-giving.
Jesus laid down His life for us on the cross; “For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things for Him, making peace by the blood of His cross through Him, whether those on earth or in heaven.” He endured the pain of the cross and the shame of the grave to reconcile us with the Father and with each other and give us access to the love and peace that God again offers us.
We enter the peace of Christ when we receive this supernatural love, allow it to control our hearts, and share it with others. This is what we find in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. In His reply to the scholar who asked how to obtain eternal life, Jesus reminds him first to open his heart to that supernatural love that enables us to love God above all things and love all things for His sake; “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind.” It is only after we have this supernatural love in our hearts that we can “love our neighbors as ourselves.”
The priest and the Levite in the parable seem to be constrained to their natural love. In their eyes, the wounded man on the side of the road has nothing to offer them, and they do not care to sacrifice anything for him. They were probably too focused on their own needs and priorities to care for him.
But the Good Samaritan showed supernatural love to the wounded man on the road. He did not allow his natural dislike for the Jews to overcome him. He did not love the wounded Jew to get something from him. He did not ask him to contribute anything or pay him back. He sacrificed his time, oil, wine, and money for him. He did not ask for an apology for the many ways that the Jews maltreated and despised the Samaritans. He gave him a new chance at life by taking him to the inn, caring for him himself, and then paying for his ongoing treatment. This is why Jesus called the scholar to go beyond natural love and practice this supernatural love: “Go and do likewise.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we talk so much about love today, but why don’t we have peace in our hearts, in our Church, and in the world? Why is there so much violence, hatred, prejudice, and wickedness amidst all the talk about love?
Most probably, we lack true peace because all our talk of love is about a purely natural love. We are overcome by selfishness because our natural love prevails over the supernatural love that we received from God in baptism. We love only those who do good to us, look like us, speak like us, or value what we value. We give in to self-indulgence because we cannot think of a supernatural love that demands self-sacrifice. We love only when we get something back, be it more possessions, power, or pleasure.
For many people, love is about getting sexual pleasure from others, even if they are from the same or opposite sex. Many, too, do not care about the unborn in the womb because they cannot see anything to gain from them or their mothers wounded by abortion.
Ultimately, we cannot have true and lasting peace if our love is purely natural. Merely possessing supernatural life does not guarantee our inner peace. We must allow that supernatural love to control our hearts and move us to love what God loves and how God loves.
Supernatural love—the divine love that is selfless, self-sacrificing, and life-giving—is made present to us by Jesus in each Eucharist. Let us experience this love today and always, hold on to it, believe in it, allow it to control our hearts, and share it with others. This is the only way that the peace of Christ will enter and remain in our hearts.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Photo by Matea Gregg on Unsplash
