Drunk on Love PDF Print

The three little words, eight little letters, “I love you” are words that can change our world. But, how does one prove to another that they truly, unconditionally and faithfully love them???? We send flowers, cards, emails with our promises and pledges of love and fidelity to others. How many different ways can it be said? My wife tells me that if I love her I will stop at Baskin-Robbins and buy her an ice cream Sunday, or she will say that if I love her I will rub her foot or scratch her back. Well, if that’s all there is then, I must pass the test, for she gets her ice cream Sunday every Thursday after choir practice and her foot rubbed and back scratched often. But that’s not all there is to love, is it?

Love is about being in relationship with other people. There are, of course, different levels of love. We often say, as Christians, that we love our neighbors without really knowing who they are. There is also the kind of love we feel for friends, for children, for spouses, and even a type of love we reserve for things like ice cream and back scratches.

The love that God shows for humanity is a love without bounds. Our God is the God of Creation who brought order out of chaos. Our God is the God of Israel who brought slaves into the promised land. Our God is the one who, when we have gone astray from God’s principles, has sent prophets to call us back to justice. And our God is the one whose name is Jesus, our teacher, prophet and savior who tells us that love is not reserved for the powerful but is also for the least of these.

In this passage from John 14 we find ourselves back in time before the death and resurrection of Jesus. He is telling his disciples (who include us) that tragedy awaits him, that one of them will betray him, and that there will soon be a time when he will not be with them in the same way that he is now. All this bad news is offset when Jesus tells the disciples that we will not be abandoned by God as these terrible events unfold.  We are told that God will send a new advocate that will help the disciples and future generations discern the will of God as new issues, challenges and problems emerge. The advocate is the Holy Spirit, who will be the voice of the Father and of Jesus, and we will never be alone.

Jesus asked no small thing of the disciples when he said: ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments”. Being a Christian and following Jesus teachings is a struggle. To be a disciple means to follow after. Whoever would be my disciple, Jesus said, Let him follow me. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? It means to take seriously what he took seriously, to be like him in some sense. It is what St. Paul meant when he said, “Be imitators of Christ.” Scripture tells us of Jesus’ life and teachings and  shows us a figure of a man who became a model of discipleship, as he was a disciple of the Father, a man who showed us by his lifestyle what we his followers are called to be, and did first what we must do and endure to show our love for God and one another.

Yes, this task is difficult. This is why he promised us his Holy Spirit as our advocate and counselor. How can this advocate or counselor, the Holy Spirit, help guide us today in our quest to be disciples?  WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT ANYWAY?

We are told to believe in the Holy Spirit and call upon his power often, yet we are taught that the Holy Spirit is a “mystery.”

We find some help in solving that mystery in the Nicene Creed, which is one of the most ancient of early Christian documents. At each Mass we repeat it to describe what we believe it means to be Christian. It is certainly a part of our tradition. In reference to the Holy Spirit it reads:
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

When we repeat these words we are asserting that we believe they are true. But do we know what they mean? Or is the Holy Spirit really just a mystery? Jesus even seemed to struggle with an explanation when he said: The Spirit blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes (John 3:8).

Was it meant for just the apostles? Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if we thought of the Holy Spirit as being something that worked just through the first disciples? God uses the Holy Spirit to speak through us still, to challenge us to think in new ways, and to move the church in new directions.

Scripture says that Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit upon us. It flows freely in the air for those of us who believe will receive it.  Of course, Baptism is our first encounter with the Holy Spirit. Then, the rest of the sacraments are given through the Church, for the Holy Spirit dwells in the Church.

Through our calling and unity in the Holy Spirit we can learn to be faithful disciples of God in new and exciting ways. In our Gospel from John 14, the promised advocate eventually sets the world on fire and the Church is born at Pentecost.

Do we still believe in a God with power to transform us, both individuals and as a church, as a people? If we love Jesus, we have to constantly be taking stock of our lives and our church and asking how we are being faithful to Jesus’ commandments. How do we let the Holy Spirit guide us on our spiritual journey?

Jesus has not left us orphans. Not only does he give us His Spirit, He gives us His body and blood in the Eucharist.

During the Easter Season we are called to make a good confession and receive Holy Communion  in obedience to the commandments of the Church. These spiritual exercises could be the answer to how we can open ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and begin a life and a journey of following Jesus with a more perfect love and more perfect obedience to His commandments.  The Holy Spirit is the key.

The journey begins, not with three little words and eight little letters but, with four little words, twelve little letters: “I love you, Lord.………..!”

On the occasion of Pentecost the members of the early church were thought to be “drunk” they were so giddy and on fire with love. Let’s pray for a New Pentecost in our time. Come Holy Spirit! Renew the face of the earth! 
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]