As the first disciple of Jesus, St. Mary knew that for Jesus, Love is above everything else. God is Love. Jesus told us that Love is the most important virtue. He abridged all the 10 commandments - one to Love God and the next to Love the Neighbor and fellow persons as much as yourself. Jesus said all the laws of Moses came down to these. Just before his death on the cross, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, that was described by St. John as follows:

I give you a new commandment… . As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
(John 13:34)

St. Paul, in his Epistle on Love (1 Corinthians Chapter 13) describes it as follows:

The Way of Love

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

2 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.

3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11 When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12 We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 Corinthians 13 The Message (MSG)

To St. Paul, three most important virtues are Faith, Hope and Love. But then Love triumphs them all.

Love transforms us (theologically known as transformative love) Monsgr Pope states,

"The biblical, patristic and scholastic tradition all emphasized that the heart of the Gospel was a transformative union with Christ that liberated us from sin and death. Therefore, the moral dimension of the Christian life flows from this transformative union."

When we come into contact with Jesus, our life changes, our nature changes and we are transformed. We are never the same. We are "reborn." We are transformed by Jesus.

That is what happened to St. Mary. When the word came into her when she said "yes" to Angel Gabriel at annunciation, she was transformed immediately. She immediately went on the journey to Elizabeth in the hill country. St. Mary learned that she is here to serve and not to be served.

I liked the way Saint Mother Teresa (Mother Teresa will be canonized on September 4 by Pope Francis and will become St. Teresa of Calcutta), who practiced Love in all her life, described this Love:

Jesus came into this world for one purpose. He came to give us the good news that God loves us, that God is Love, that He loves you, and He loves me. How did Jesus love you and me? By giving His life.

God loves us with a tender love. That is all that Jesus came to teach us: the tender love of God,

"I have called you by name, you are Mine."
(Isaiah 43:1 NAB).

The whole Gospel is very, very simple.

Do you love Me? Obey My Commandments.

He's turning and twisting to get around to one thing - to Love One Another.

"Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with all thy mind."
Deuteronomy 6:5 (KJV).

This is the command of our great God, and He cannot command the impossible. Love is a fruit, in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no time is set.

Everyone can reach this love through meditation, the spirit of prayer, and sacrifice, by an intense interior life. Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.

Today we will examine some aspects of this transformative Love. More on love can be found from the archives of Malankara World Journal cited.

Holy Mother of God, Pray for us.

Dr. Jacob Mathew
Malankara World

Mother Teresa's quote was excerpted from 'No Greater Love' by Mother Teresa - Chapter 2.

I give you a new commandment… . As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
(John 13:34)

Gospel: John 13: 31-35

They say couples who have been married a long time start to look alike. Whether or not it's true physically, it probably is true that a loving married couple over the years starts to think alike. They share the same desires and goals. They tend to make similar choices. They even complete each other's sentences!

Well, if this is true of the relationship between a husband and wife, it is most certainly true when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. After all, the Church is the bride of Christ. That means that as his beloved, we should resemble him more and more every day.

But how do we do that?
By loving other people as Jesus loves us.

This is a new commandment! We all have heard the greatest commandment telling us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But Jesus took this even further as he spoke to his disciples on the night before he died. He wants us to love as he loves. This is what will set us apart as his people, his bride. This is what will make us start to look like him: loving like him!

If you want to know what Jesus' love looks like, make a list! Think about various Scripture passages that have touched your heart. Think, too, about your personal experiences of the Lord. Write down words that describe what these felt like. Is his love generous? Forgiving? Compassionate? Is it faithful? Trustworthy? Pure?

Next, thank Jesus for the way he loves you, and ask him to put that same love in your heart. Make it a point to take just one of the descriptions on your list and live it out today. This is what will set you apart as a member of the bride of Christ.

Prayer:

"Jesus, pierce my heart with the love you have for me. Come, Lord, and expand my love so that I can pour it out to others. I want to become your reflection in this world!"

Questions for Reflection and Meditation

1. In Revelation 21:1-5, St. John tells us that the "old order has passed away" and God is making "all things new". What steps can you take to allow God to replace old patterns of behavior with "new" patterns in your life?

2. In the Gospel reading (John 13:31-35), we are told that "all will know you are my disciples, if you have love one for another" (John 13:35). What do you think these words mean? Why is "love" the identifying characteristic of what it means to be a Christian? Who are the people in your parish, or at your workplace, to whom you need to show more love?

3. In the meditation, we hear these words, "We all have heard the greatest commandment telling us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But Jesus took this even further as he spoke to his disciples on the night before he died. He wants us to love as he loves." In what way does Jesus' "new commandment" to love one another as he has loved us raise the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself" to an even higher level. Why is this commandment impossible to fulfill unless we have first experienced Jesus' love for us? (1 John 4:19: "We love because he first loved us.")

4. Take some time now to pray and ask the Lord to give you a greater experience of his great love for you, so you can give it away to others. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.

By Dr. Robert Crouse

In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
(1 John 4.9-11)

1 John 4.9-11 offers us a message that is very simple and direct:

"in this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

That really sums up all we have been celebrating throughout the first half of the Church Year, from Advent to Trinity Sunday: the showing forth of God's love in Jesus Christ. We have celebrated the love that takes our human nature, transforms it, and elevates it to a new spiritual life, making us sons of God by adoption and grace.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

0 Love, how deep, how broad, how high
It fills the soul with ecstasy
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortal's sake.
(15th Century Latin hymn trans. by Benjamin Webb)

This, you see, has been the point of all our celebrations: that we should see, that we should catch a glimpse of the manifest love of God, and be refreshed and elevated, "reborn," by that vision of what God, in Christ, has done.

"No one has seen God at any time."

For the natural man, God is the great unknown, the great beyond, the mysterious principle of all existence, which finds some sort of recognition in all the world's religions.

To know God in that way, as the infinite power ruling the cosmos, is a noble knowledge, certainly. But to know God as love is something much more, and far different.

To know that the eternal principle moving and governing all things is the divine love is a transforming knowledge.

To know that God is love is to see everything with new eyes. It is to see "a new heaven and new earth." (Revelation 21.1) It is to be spiritually "reborn," as Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3.7. It is to be saved from fear and hopelessness.

That belief, that recognition of God's infinite, all-encompassing love, is the very ground of our salvation.

"Hereby we know love, because he laid down his life for us." (1 John 3.16)

The fact that we know love is the ground of our salvation. In love, he gave himself for us. And it is our destiny and vocation to be transformed by that love, to realize it and fulfil it in our lives. That is St. John's second point in today's Epistle less on: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

That is our introduction to the long season of Sundays after Trinity. The Scripture lessons for today are to be a kind of education in the practice of Christian love. The love of God in us is manifest in our love for one another, in our active good will. It is love which is not just feeling or superficial emotion, not just "in word and in tongue," but rather it is love which is "in deed and in truth." (1 John 3.18) Without that active good will, without the deeds of love, our love of God is clearly false:

"if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar."

The story of Lazarus and the rich man, illustrates exactly that point. What does it mean that the rich man is in hell? It is not some arbitrary punishment visited upon him from outside; it is simply the description of the parched, tormented soul which has rejected the love of God. That is what hell is: nothing more, and nothing less than the practical denial of God's love.

To love one another, in the sense in which the Scripture means it, is to will the eternal good of one another, and to act practically in terms of that will. But how can we do it? Our own needs, affections and preferences, our own fears, keep getting in the way of it. So needful of good ourselves, we can hardly see our neighbor's good and will it. But "perfect love," says St. John, "casteth out fear." '

The basis, the starting point, is God's love for us.

"We have known and believed the love that God hath to us."

"Herein is our love made perfect."

It is our knowledge of God's love for us that enables us to love, that is, to will the good of one another. It is the knowledge that we are loved, however unworthy we may be, at the very heart of our being, which frees us from our own needs and fears. So we must grow in the knowledge of that love.

Finally, St. John (John 13: 31-35) speaks of love in terms of commandment; and that, perhaps, seems a strange way of putting it. How can love be commanded?

We're used to thinking of love as something spontaneous, something that somehow just happens: one "falls in love." What sense does it make to command it?

But St. John's approach is more realistic than conventional modern notions about the spontaneity of love. Our loves do not "just happen." They belong to a character formed by a long process of training and habit-making. And that process always begins with commandment and obedience. Just as our natural life begins with obedience to parents and teachers, so our life in Christ begins with our obedience to God's word. There is, certainly, a spiritual maturity, when our loves are spontaneously right. That is the condition we call "sanctity" or holiness. But our beginning and our growth are in obedience to commandment.

"And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also."

by Woodrow Kroll

Years ago, a man walked the earth and revealed a life so unique it became the central point in human history. A man, who, "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:5-8).

Though He was human and divine, the Son of Man had nothing in the natural that would have attracted others to him. Yet in three years, He healed the sick, fed the poor, ministered to the brokenhearted, cast out evil spirits, brought sight to the blind and gave hope to the hopeless. His message was radical and His love, unparalleled. Prostitutes, politicians, beggars and kings all were the same to Him and equally deserving of love - not because of their worthiness but because God, being the very definition of Love, could do no less. He told us to live simply, to give generously and to love unconditionally.

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13), Jesus told His disciples. We need to remind ourselves that in those terrible hours Jesus hung on the cross, it was all about love. We can't comprehend that kind of all-consuming, all-powerful Love, but we can spend the rest of our lives living in wholehearted response to it.

How do we do that?

"Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Colossians 1:10)

It's clear we please Jesus by bearing fruit. But what kind of fruit? The fruit that comes from every good work. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works...that we should walk in them." This is our purpose, one we have been gloriously restored to by the Resurrection and which flows naturally from our restored identity. Works cannot save us, but without the fruit of good works, we lack the evidence that identifies us as new creations in Christ! Just as God's nature is revealed in what He does, we reveal His nature in what we do.

What are these good works? While feeding the poor, clothing the naked and visiting the needy are expressions of the Christian life, they represent only a partial "list" of the works Jesus performed. For a complete list, read the Word with the sole intent of identifying every action verb - those "good works" that both Jesus and His disciples practiced; then pray that His Holy Spirit will empower you to "go and do likewise!"

As I watched, I praised God for His beautiful work. As I sat there, I felt the Lord's presence with me. He asked me, "Do you love me?"�

I answered, "Of course, God! You are my Lord and Savior!�"

Then He asked, "If you were physically handicapped, would you still love me?"

I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs and the rest of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn't be able to do, the things that I took for granted. And I answered, "It would be tough Lord, but I would still love You."

Then the Lord said, "If you were blind, would you still love my creation?"

How could I love something without being able to see it? Then I thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them still loved God and His creation. So I answered, "Its hard to think of it, but I would still love you.�"

The Lord then asked me, "If you were deaf, would you still listen to my word?�"

How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood. Listening to Gods Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts. I answered, "It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your word.�"

The Lord then asked, "If you were mute, would you still praise My Name?"

How could I praise without a voice? Then it occurred to me: God wants us to sing from our very heart and soul. It never matters what we sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but when we are persecuted, we give God praise with our words of thanks. So I answered, "Though I could not physically sing, I would still praise Your Name."

And the Lord asked, "Do you really love Me?"�

With courage and a strong conviction, I answered boldly, "Yes Lord! I love You because You are the one and true God!"�

I thought I had answered well, but God asked, "THEN WHY DO YOU SIN?"�

I answered, "Because I am only human. I am not perfect.�"

"THEN, WHY IN TIMES OF PEACE DO YOU STRAY THE FURTHEST? WHY ONLY IN TIMES OF TROUBLE DO YOU PRAY THE EARNEST?"�

No answers. Only tears.

The Lord continued: "Why only sing at fellowships and retreats? Why seek Me only in times of worship? Why ask things so selfishly? Why ask things so unfaithfully?"�

The tears continued to roll down my cheeks.

"Why are you ashamed of Me? Why are you not spreading the good news? Why in times of persecution, you cry to others when I offer My shoulder to cry on? Why make excuses when I give you opportunities to serve in My Name?�"

I tried to answer, but there was no answer to give.

"You are blessed with life. I made you not to throw this gift away. I have blessed you with talents to serve Me, but you continue to turn away. I have revealed My Word to you, but you do not gain in knowledge. I have spoken to you but your ears were closed. I have shown My blessings to you, but your eyes were turned away. I have sent you servants, but you sat idly by as they were pushed away. I have heard your prayers and I have answered them all.� DO YOU TRULY LOVE ME?"�

I could not answer. How could I? I was embarrassed beyond belief. I had no excuse. What could I say to this?

When the tears had flowed, I said, "Please forgive me Lord. I am unworthy to be Your child."�

The Lord answered, "That is My Grace, My child."

I asked, "Then why do you continue to forgive me? Why do You love me so?"

The Lord answered, "Because you are My creation. You are my child. I will never abandon you. When you cry, I will have compassion and cry with you. When you shout with joy, I will laugh with you. When you are down, I will encourage you. When you fall, I will raise you up. When you are tired, I will carry you. I will be with you till the end of days, and I will love you forever."�

Never had I cried so hard before. How could I have been so cold? How could I have hurt God as I had done?

I asked God, "How much do You love me?"�

The Lord stretched out His arms, and I saw His nail-pierced hands. I bowed down at the feet of Christ, my Savior. And for the first time, I truly prayed.