One Love

 

There is some problem in our society today as far as marital relations are concerned.  God said: “What God has joined together let not man dare to put asunder” (Mt. 9:5).  Immature as many of us are, we think we gain more exploits the more women or men we indulged in.  What happens is a degradation of the quality of love.

 

Love was destined to last forever.  Marriage is not a joke.  It is an exchange of the perpetual vow of love, as you yourself witness from the ceremony “till death do us part.”

All those who practice love in another way are just destroying themselves, wasting their energies in non-love.  They  will just multiply problems, distractions and wastage of energies, and hamper growth to maturity and success.  God made the love between a man and a woman to last forever—in its endurance and depth.  Now you cannot call that deep love that keeps changing partners, as the moderns attempt to do to enjoy more.  What happens is self-destruction and the hampering of the growth towards maturity, solidity and success.  Infidelity or unfaithful love breeds disaster.  Let us ask God, the Source of Love, to bless our marriages with enduring union, patience and depth.  That’s the usual advice they give to those who want to avoid AIDS and other venereal diseases: stick to one partner—husband or wife—in life.  Now this means too that the selection of a life partner should not be a joke but a serious, prayerful affair.  You will be more happy if you stick and agree to one love.  Precisely the prime purposes of marriage are: procreation of children, mutual support, satisfaction of physical desire.  How can these be fulfilled if one will advocate separation or flimsy relationships?

Gross blunder -- injustice

St. Thomas Aquinas had mentioned that wrong ideas are like mistaken angles that when extended would magnify also the erroneous perspective.  This is happening in our land today when people keep on moving in the guise of justice without even knowing where their actions lead to.  Just look at all the violence around.  Is that justice?  And where therefore is the missing link, the gross blunder?

Maybe we have forgotten what Jesus said:  “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5).  As St. Pope John XXIII once said: “I don’t complicate my principles.  If Jesus would do it, I would.  If Jesus would not, neither would I”.  People think it’s justice enough to be concerned for the poor.  Justice means “giving to everyone his due” (Rom. 13:7).  So that includes the right relationship to God, ourselves (since charity begins at home), and our neighbor.  And Jesus is justice incarnate whom we are to follow (Mal. 3:20; Jer. 23:6; Jn. 13:15; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Pet. 2:21). 

The problem at hand is our centering on Christ, especially for leaders to—know, show, and lead the way.    If Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6), we can only be effective leaders if we know him that well as by witnessing to his life and principles in our own life, because examples speak louder than words.  That is when justice can be truly exemplified, and blunders overcome.

Jesus -- in the Bible and in Islam

Why is it that in the world the greater number recognize Jesus as Redeemer?  He is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn. 14:6).  Moreover, He is Love.  He asks us to love and forgive even our enemies (Mt. 5:43-48).  He asks us to be humble and care for the needs of others (Lk. 14:11, 18:11; Mt. 25:31-46).

Even the Koran of Islam has this about Jesus.  In Surah (chapter) 3:45: “Behold! the angels said, O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus.  The son of Mary, held in honor in this world and of those nearest to Allah.”  In Surah 3:55: “O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself...I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith....”  In Surah 43:63: “When Jesus came with Clear Signs, he said: “Now have I come to you with Wisdom, and in order to make clear to you some of the points on which ye dispute: therefore fear Allah and obey me.”

The Koran asks the people to fear Allah and follow Jesus.   Why not?  Jesus only teaches love, humility, truth, forgiveness and care for one another.  One fundamental law of Jesus is: “Judge not and you shall not be judged.  For with what judgment you judge you shall also be judged” (Mt. 7:2).  “Forgive and you shall be forgiven” (Mt. 6:12-15).

While we work for reconciliation it is always profitable to see common points in the Bible and in the Koran.

The hundredfold

(Mt. 19:29; Lk. 14:26; Mk. 10:30)

People keep looking for this hundredfold but seem to miss the point all the time.  Others place it in social analysis which is another form of delusion and deception among those who do it without the consideration of God.

This is found in the fulfillment of those who become servants of Jesus, who turn their backs to the world, not to abandon it, but to find in it the perspective of Jesus who came to save the world (Jn. 12:47).  People of this sort seemingly have left the pleasures of married life; yet when you see them, are more fulfilled and find greater joy in their spiritual children and in being servants of God’s kingdom. 

The delights of the Spirit far surpass the delights of the flesh yet, as the burning bush (Ex. 3:2), will not have the effect of physical exhaustion.  This can only be discovered by grace and by the experience of God which cannot be described in word or writing.  Just go on the journey of the Lord.  He can also give you the true meaning and experience of what is called spiritual marriage.

God's forgiving mercy

 The practice of regular confession appears to have declined in number, and perchance some clarification has to be made.  In this regard, forgiveness must be seen as a relationship between God and man.  But in this mutual and dual relationship it is man who has to reform and turn aside from evil, and be converted to God who is there waiting all the time (cf. Rev. 3:20, Ps. 34:14). 

If this is not understood this way, how else?  Even the parable of the Prodigal Son which portrays such mystery of God’s forgiveness shows therein a return of the sinner back to the Father’s house.   In human experience, that would be a return to the normal, legitimate circumstances surrounding a person’s life.

In the shepherding or pastoral (for such is the work of the pastor which in Latin means shepherd) ministry of the Church, the sacrament of Confession is precisely one which is best in bringing sinners to reconciliation with God—not just with any created being, but with God alone (cf. Mk. 2:7).  The others follow only as a compliment to the fulfillment of God’s will.  That is why this is an important sacrament;  a part and parcel of the proclamation of the Word, for here we do proclaim the mercy of God towards repentant sinners.