Love is not a feeling - Love is an action, an activity

“What we love we shall grow to resemble.” ~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Gospel Text: (Jn 14:21-26)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name–
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”

Love is not something that can be done passively. Whether it’s love of a family member, a friend, or your spouse, love is expressed best not through words, but through our thoughts and actions. If we do not live as though we love, then the difference between loving your spouse and, say, peanut butter is slight.

Why, then, do we so often think of our love of God in different terms?

The true irony comes when you sit to pray and wonder why you feel disconnected, distracted, or lost. Our relationship with God, like any relationship, requires more than just acknowledging it exists. It takes action. It takes diligence. It takes living your day-to-day life with the knowledge that God’s work is present in all that you do.

This is no small task. And, as is often the case in our pursuit of a relationship, living our daily lives with God in mind is much easier said than done. But even acknowledging this difficulty and still working to overcome it is an active affirmation of one’s love for God.

And so I implore each of us to do as Jesus asked – let us not treat our relationship with God as any less than any other, but as what it is: the most fundamental and critical relationship we could ever have, from which all others stem. If we do that, then we can trust God will reciprocate and show himself to us.