Lectio
“…a sharp distinction should be drawn between acts of the intellect and those of the will. The former are of little importance, while the latter mean everything. All we really have to do is to love God and rejoice in Him.”
— Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, The Practice of the Presence of God
Meditatio
In a recent conversation with a Catholic seminarian, I was told that, because of my studies, I may be more theologically advanced than he. Of course, I demurred, as I am simply a follower of Christ who has been graced with a longing for connection to Him through the mystics and saints of the Church, and, lacking the Catholic upbringing and formal priestly training of this seminarian, I am certain he is much further along than I in both theological understanding and theological experience within the Church. I am but a mere pilgrim on this road to which he has been called as a lifelong vocation.
But as I pondered our interaction, I was struck by the powerful and humbling realization of all of the ways in which I so often fail to live up to the very Gospel of Love about which I study and, through my writing and interpersonal dialogues, theologize so frequently. While thinking on my theological studies and education, I was stopped in my tracks by a single question, that descended upon me like an angel of judgment and mercy: What good is theology if you do not have love?
This, I realized, is the central question of not only Christ’s ministry, but of life itself. We are not called to know more, but to love more. We are not invited to merely reflect on God, or even study His word, but to graft ourselves on to Him, through Christ, that we may share in His outpouring and indwelling Spirit of love. And, as Christ and through Christ, we are commanded to share this love with God and neighbor, to give ourselves in love to God and our fellows, above, before, and in all things.
Christianity is not a mere theology, philosophy, or code of morals. Christianity is love received, given, and embodied in self-sacrifice for the God who is love and on behalf of the beloved other whom we encounter in our lives in the form of our families, our neighbors, and strangers on the road. Christ does not simply ask us to preach to the poor, the hungry, and the thirsty, but to love them, to give ourselves to them as He has given Himself to us, and to minister to them in their poverty, hunger, and thirst as He has ministered to us in ours.i
Without love, for God, neighbor, and self, I do not have Christ. When I fail to love my wife, my daughter, my mother, father, brother, or anyone else I have met or have yet to meet, I fail to love Christ because Christ is in everyone, especially the least of these.s
The conviction of Christianity, therefore, is the conviction of love. It is not to know more about Christ, His Word, or His Church. It is to know more of Christ, His Word, and His Church — to know more of love — both in ourselves and in others, and to never cease loving, even for a moment, just as He has never ceased loving us, even for a moment. This is not theology. It is Gospel.
Oratio
The Good News
the good news
is love
during storms and floods
love
on lonely mountaintops
love
through the wilderness
love
in the face of temptation
love
persecution and crucifixion
love
through death and resurrection
love
repentance and forgiveness
love
given the Holy Spirit
love
go and tell the nations
love
heal the sick and feed the poor
love
eternal salvation
love
Contemplatio
Somewhere beneath your thoughts about God is the God who is already loving you. Let every circumstance of your life — the storms, the wilderness, the ordinary hours — become a place where you simply receive and offer up this love. Set down the need to understand, and let this settle in silence, consenting to His presence, and let Him move in you however He wills.
Related Scripture
“And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Immeasurable Love: Bernard of Clairvaux and Why God Asks for Your Whole Heart, which sits with the same refusal to turn love into a ledger — asking not what we can prove or earn, but only what we can receive.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
Leave a Reply