Imitating JESUS, loving like HIM

This is the last Sunday of this journey that takes us from Easter to the Ascension. We have been able to draw on the images of Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Good Shepherd, and Jesus the Vine to understand how to continue the mission that the Father has entrusted to him.

Today, Jesus is presented as the channel of the Father’s Love: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you”… it’s really about imitating the Father by imitating Jesus. So let us now see how Christ loved us, and let us do as he did, to be signs to the world and to live out this love for our brothers and sisters.

I – Christ loved us first

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Jesus loved us before we loved him. The one who loves like Jesus is the one who loves first! 

II – Christ loved us freely

“But God proves his own love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8. God’s love is unconditional, that is, without conditions. God loves us just as we are! We are loved for nothing! The one who loves like Jesus is the one who loves freely, expecting nothing in return.

III – Christ loved us with a faithful love!

“But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and keep you from evil. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 God’s love is not a “fixed-term contract”. God will never divorce us!

The one who loves like Jesus is the one who can love all his life. Because loving is an act of the will, a decision: “I decide to love you”!

IV – Christ loved us by serving us!

Let’s remember Christ kneeling and washing the feet of the surprised apostles (John 13:4-5). The one who loves like Jesus is the one who finds joy in making the other happy, who makes the other pass before him in the smallest things!

V – Christ loved us with a forgiving love

“And this is love: it was not we who loved God, but he who loved us and sent his Son so that through him our sins might be forgiven.” 1John 4:10 Christ looked at everyone he met, seeing in each one their hidden beauty. The one who loves like Jesus is the one who can see the hidden beauty of the other, without constantly dwelling on their incapacities, weaknesses, or the affronts that the other has done to them.

VI – Christ loved us totally to the end, to the point of madness

“When Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, just as he had loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” John 13:1. He gave his life for us, to the last drop of his blood, to the total and absolute gift. The one who loves like Jesus is the one who dares to climb higher and higher, to the pinnacles of the madness of the cross.

NSS – Next Small Step

– Ask for the Holy Spirit, to receive the fruit of Jesus’ Love.

– Choose to love first

– Choose to forgive someone who has wronged us