17th Sunday after Pentecost 2 October 2022 Love of Neighbour
It may seem a strange thing to be commanded to love someone as love is not something we can always choose or direct.
Some people, some things, are more loveable than others. It is accordingly easier to love some than others.
God wants us to see other people as He sees them, and not as how they might seem to us, with our limited perception.
If we interpret other people in terms of what faults they have, what is wrong with them, then we find them unlovable.
Often people do not go beyond this level when considering each other. Dishonest, bad-tempered, lazy, conceited, lustful… how can we love such people?
So we then settle for loving only those who love us, as Our Lord noted (Lk 6,32).
To start with someone’s faults is the wrong place.
If we try to see it from God's point of view, it becomes clearer.
God loves all His people, whether or not they are behaving properly.
Remember the father in the Prodigal Son parable (Lk 15,11-32). He loved both sons; one who was steady and dependable, and the other who was wild and foolish.
The father could see the good in the wild son; he could see past the faults to the basic goodness that was there, or would be there if the boy made a sincere repentance.
This is how God wants us to see each other. We do not dwell on the faults; they are obstacles which can be removed. The essential person is created to know, love and serve God, and to live with Him forever.
We do not have to deny the faults, only to see that they are not an intrinsic part of the person.
What is intrinsic is the image of God planted in each soul. That image might flourish or be covered with weeds, but it remains in place, and if it is overgrown with weeds, it is waiting to be restored.
We try to see the intrinsic goodness in our neighbour. Once we do see it then love follows on naturally; it will not be a great effort.
If we cannot find much good in the neighbour, and maybe a considerable amount of evil, then we join with God in seeking to restore that soul to the status that was intended for it.
God can see what He had in mind when He created each person, and He can also see the end result of each life, which we hope means salvation for most.
God has it firmly in His mind how everything should be, how one thing fits in with another. And ever since the first sin He has been restoring what has come adrift.
People enjoy restoring old houses, cars, coins, books, gardens - so why not the soul that is overgrown with sins and its effects?
Loving on our part amounts simply wanting the right and the good to emerge in each person, as God has been wanting and working for all time till now.
The human race has never got this right on any great scale. We look to Our Lord on the Cross to see this attitude in action. He loves those who are crucifying Him; He can see the good in them and is trying to draw it out.
‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’(Lk 23,34)
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.(1 Cor 13,7)
We are still too much like the older brother, somehow resenting that others can be forgiven without having been sufficiently punished!
Instead let us rejoice with the angels over one sinner who repents (Lk 15,10).
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