The Gospel account today is on Jesus' last supper with His apostles. He said,"My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment : love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
What is love? Love is a word that has been defined and redefined by so many people in so many ways that it has assumed a multi-faceted sometimes ambiguous meaning. The common denominator seems to be that it is within the realm of the emotions. Webster's dictionary defines love as a deep and tender affection for another person. In the Bible, aspects of love are enumerated by St. Paul in I Corinthians 13:1-13:
"Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud. Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up and its faith, hope and patience never fails. Faith, hope and love- and the greatest of these is love."
God's love is all embodied in St. Paul's teaching but there is something more!
But what is God's love? What qualities distinguish God's love from the love borne by common man?
1. God's love is universal.
The love of God is given to every man, woman or child, everyone of His creation who live in the plush, high-tech cities of the world or in the dark forest primeval or in the tall mountain ranges of the unknown hemisphere of this planet. His love is poured out to those who acknowledge Him as Lord, to those who has not even heard of Him or those who vehemently refuse to recognize that He exists.
2. God's love is unconditional.
The love of God is not based on your gender, color of your skin, what you do for a living, the house you live in or the car you drive or the kind of person you are. You are not a surprise to God. He knows what he was getting when He created you. He loves you, no matter what!
3. God's love is eternal.
The love of God has no boundaries. It is not limited by time, distance or space. In Jer 31:3, the Lord says," I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore, have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee.""
4. God's love is like that of a Father and Son
The protective, understanding and patient love of a Father is manifested by God towards His Son and to all creation. It is the kind "of love that covers a multitude of sins." In Jer 17:23-26, Jesus says, "...that the world may know that Thou has loved them even as Thou hast loved me. And I have made known to them Thy name in order that the love with which Thou hast loved me may be in them as I in them."
5. God's love is unchanging.
Nothing that we do, whether we worship and adore Him as our personal Savior or completely ignore Him as to be among those unbelievers can ever change the love that God has for us. It is sure and precision- timed, changeless as the rising and the setting of the sun and the movement of celestial bodies in the universe.
In conclusion, Romans 8:38 clears states, " For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
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