Through baptism, I was called to communicate the word of God and faith to others. Why should I be concerned with someone else's fate and someone else's salvation ?
There are people, who, out of concern for others - also for their salvation - constantly pay attention to them, admonish. As a result, they are sometimes unbearable to those around them. Just what Christ is asking of his follower ?
God's love dwelt among people in Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ prayed in this way in the Upper Room :
“May they become one, that the world may know, that you sent me and that you loved them so much, how you love me. […] father ! […] make love, whom you love me, she was in them, and I am in them " (J 17, 23. 25-26). With these words, God reveals to us the mystery of his inner life. The Father has loved the Son in the Holy Spirit from the ages, and the Son eternally loves the Father in the Holy Spirit. Hence, St.. Jan could have said : "God is love" (1 J 4, 8).
The same love, with which the Father has loved his Son through the ages, also loves people. The residence of the Son of God among people is the greatest proof of this love : “For God so loved the world, that he gave the One-begotten Son, to everyone, who believes in him, he did not die, but he had eternal life " (J 3, 16). God the Father sent Christ, to give people God's love, through his Passion, death and resurrection triumphed over sin and selfishness. Through Christ, God's love has dwelt among people, to unite them with God - and with each other.
Baptism gives us a share in God's love
In the prayer quoted above, which we read on the seventh Sunday of Passover (year C), Jesus Christ asks, make love, which exists between him and the Father, she was also in these, who believe in him. So he reveals to us, that he wants, that people may become partakers of God's love. Jesus fulfills this desire in every human being at the moment of his baptism. When he gives us his life, at the same time he gives his love : “God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which is given to us " (Rz 5, 5). So baptism enables us to participate in God's love and makes us capable of loving God and loving people yes, as Christ himself loves. We call this talent the supernatural virtue of love. You cannot forget, that God's love, which a person receives at the baptism of St., it is inseparably linked to God's life.
God's love works in us
God, who is love, through his Son, he has given us a supernatural love. He wants to embrace all people with this love and love them :
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone, who loves, he is born of God and knows God. Who does not love, does not know God, because God is love " (1 J 4, 7-8).
With this love of God "poured into our hearts" (Rz 5, 5), we have to cooperate. God's love develops the most in us through participation in the Eucharist. The closer we are to Christ, the more we are united with Him, the more love of God and people in us. Moreover, all the sacraments are an encounter with Christ and strengthen our relationship with him. So they keep love in a Christian and develop it.
Supernatural love is a gift from God
This should be prayed for, to love God and people more and more perfectly. Additionally, to remain in God's love and grow in it, it is necessary to keep the teaching of Christ :
“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in His love " (J 15, 10).
This love should be manifested in works. St.. Paul :
"Love is patient, she is kind.
Love does not envy, he is not looking for applause,
he is not proud ; shamelessness is not allowed,
he is not looking for his own, he is not angry, he doesn't remember bad;
he does not enjoy the injustice, but rejoices in the truth”
(1 Disease 13, 4-6).
How will I answer God ?
Not all Christians live up to their call to love. Many of them became tightly selfish and self-loving. These transgressions weaken supernatural love. It can even be completely lost through mortal sin, killing God's life in us. However, we can always regain it with the recovery of God's life.
I want to cooperate with Christ. So how do I act ? Am I really working on overcoming my selfishness?, which leads to sin ? How do I develop love ? How am I to my parents, brothers, colleagues and for strangers ? Perhaps from now on I will appreciate my participation in the Holy Mass. I will, that I will receive the Body of Christ more often and benefit from His forgiveness in the sacrament of penance. In doing so, I will grow in God's love and follow the teachings of Christ. I will consider the call of St.. Jana : ..Beloved, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another. […] If we love one another, God abides in us and love for Him is perfect in us " (1 J 4, 11-12).
■ Think :
1. Explain the words of St.. Jana: ,,God is love".
2. In whom God's love manifested itself to people ?
3. Who and when participates in God's love ?
4. For what purpose God has given us His love ?
5. By which we grow in God's love ?
6. How God's supernatural love manifests itself in the daily life of a Christian ?
7. As a result, we lose the supernatural virtue of love ?
■ Remember:
15. When we receive the supernatural virtue of love ?
We receive the supernatural virtue of love at baptism together with participation in God's life.
16. What is the supernatural virtue of love ?
The supernatural virtue of love is the ability to love God and neighbor, as Christ himself loves.
17. As a result, we lose the supernatural virtue of love, and thus we get it back ? We lose the supernatural virtue of love through every mortal sin, and we regain it together with God's life.
■ Task :
1. Memorize the act of God's love by heart and slowly say it every evening at prayer.
2. Reply, why you can't be a real Christian, if you don't love your neighbor ?
Christ bestows supernatural love on the baptized
