Let's Talk About Love ♥

Today's Gospel: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father`s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete." (John 15:9-11)

A Love Story*

There was a couple who so wanted to marry each other but they didn't have enough funds for the wedding. Determined to save for their future, the boyfriend decided to work abroad. At first, the girlfriend hesitated and even made a scene at the airport when she helplessly cried in an attempt to convince her boyfriend to stay.

She was finally consoled when the boyfriend assured her that he would write her letters everyday. (It was a time when phones and emails were still an imagination.) And so the boyfriend flew to Saudi and everyday he sends love letters to his girlfriend. No matter what circumstances and obstacles he may have to go through, he remained faithful in keeping his promise. The girlfriend never failed to receive a special letter delivered to her doorsteps every single day.

Three years after, the most awaited wedding finally took place.

The girlfriend married the postman.

The moral of the story? This:

While there are couples who survive a long distance relationship, it doesn't mean it will work all the time. Yes, it may be true that absence makes the heart grow fonder but there is also a "the nearer, the dearer" principle.

To love is to know and to understand. And the only way for one to know and understand a beloved is to spend time with him/her.

According to studies, the best marriages - the happy and lasting ones - are founded in friendship. I remember the relationship pyramid presented by Jason Evert and discussed during the Intimacy Weekend Retreat (see below).

Love doesn't take place at first sight, nor does it happen overnight. It takes time - time to know and to understand the person. It entails time to spend with the person. You know it's love when you have discovered the ugliest truth about the person, yet you're still willing to give your life for them. Sabi ni Fr. Dexter, kapag nakahanap ka ng taong handang ialay ang sariling buhay para sa'yo, huwag ka ng mag-alinlangan pa dahil siya ang tunay na nagmamahal sa'yo. Indeed, there's no greater love than to lay one's life for the beloved.

In today's gospel, Jesus said "as the Father loves Me, so I love you." When Jesus said He loves us, He meant it. That's the reason why He came down from heaven and became man, just like one of us, in order for Him to know and understand us. Jesus showed us the perfect example of loving. He did the greatest act of love when, after having seen and experienced all our wickedness, He still chose to die for our sake. Jesus lived and died because of love - love that came from the ultimate source - God.

God's Love**
There are three ways to describe God's love:

Eternal - faithful, loyal, everlasting
Merciful - forgives and heals
Unconditional - no ifs, no buts, just pure acceptance

Just as the Father loved the Son, so as the Son loves us. Just as we are loved, we are also called to love one another - love that is eternal, merciful, and unconditional. :)

*from the homily of Fr. Dexter Carr, SVD

**from the homily of the priest who celebrated the 6pm mass at St. William's Cathedral last April 28

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These Little Wonders

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