Saturday, November 05, 2011

1 John 5:1

There is a story about a rich man who had a twofold tragedy in his life. His wife died in childbirth and the baby boy who was born was mentally handicapped. He hired a nurse to take care of the child. The nurse raised the child like her own son. The boy, however, died in his early teens. Heartbroken, the rich man died soon after. The man’s will could not be found and so the estate and belongings went up for sale. The old nurse had very little money, but there was one thing she wanted more than any other – a photo of the boy she had nursed and loved until he died. There was a framed picture of the boy and nobody wanted it. She bought it for just one dollar. She took the picture home and began to clean it up. As she did so, a piece of paper fell out of the frame. It was the rich man’s will. It stated that all his wealth and estate would go to whoever loved his son enough to buy his picture. The sale of the estate and the belongings were halted and everything was given to the nurse, the rightful owner.

Many Christians resolve to serve God and grow in His love. What is often lacking is a proper commitment to grow in love for the children of God.

Through our baptism into Christ we became sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. From that very moment, God became our father in a special way, and all other children of God became our brothers and sisters. Each time we say the Our Father, we acknowledge that God’s children everywhere are our brothers and sisters. Just as it is hypocritical to say we love a parent without loving his or her child, so it is also hypocritical to profess love of God without equally loving His children.

A person who wants to befriend a Mother has little chance of success if he or she does not also befriend her child. In the same way, our chances of loving God are slim if we do not love God’s children; our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

There are hypocrites and hypocrites. Those who say they love God without making any effort to love the children of God are hypocrites . There is another set of hypocrites; those who claim to love their fellow humans without loving God. People in the second category may be viewed as models of philanthropy but they are not models of true love. True love must be directed upwards and outwards. It must be directed to the Father as well as to all His children.

St. John reminds us of this twofold love: “By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey His commandments.” (1 John 5:2)

Fr. Hugh Duffy