Falling in Love
So I remember the first time I felt like I fell in love with someone. *Gasp! What?! A priest can fall in love? Well yes, I’m human. But this was before I was a priest.
And I must say it was probably puppy love, since I was too young to know what true love is. But the experience was there none the less.
She was all I could think of. Before I went to bed she was the last person on my mind, and when I got up she was the first thing I thought of. When something good happened to me, I had an overwhelming desire to run and tell her what happened, and when something bad happened to me that day, I went straight to her to vent and get some clarity. I’d plan my weekends around her, and eventually I began to plan my day around her. She was the thing I kept coming back to.
It’s funny how, as humans, this can happen to us when we put our heart on someone. Slowly and surely our lives can be so completely wrapped around a person.
There’s a story of a group of religious sisters, who in a lecture, asked the Jesuit Superior General at the time, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, to share with them some practical advice in the spiritual life. They didn’t want a theological treatise but rather something practical. Something they could apply to their lives. And He responded famously:
Nothing is more practical than finding God,
than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
Have you fallen in love with God?
Is he all you could think of? Before you go to bed is he the last thing on your mind? And when you get up is He the first thing you think of? When something good happens to you, do you have an overwhelming desire to run and tell Him what happened, and when something bad happens to you, do you go straight to Him to vent and get some clarity. Do you plan your weekends around Him, and even plan your day around Him? Is He the thing you keep coming back to?
Have you fallen in love with God? ...because he is in love with you already.
In the Gospel today, Jesus speaks to his disciples and close friends. He is about to leave them and so he gives them some words of farewell. In fact, his words to his friends whom he loves, takes up three whole chapters in the gospel of John. He says to them:
“I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”
“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.”
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you”
“For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.”
And then afterwards Jesus prays to the Father:
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us... And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me…”
What great love God has for us! …us who are sinners, us who are unrighteous, us who often fail to love him in return.
The task for us today, is simply to fall deeper in love with God, who already loves us so much.
How do we do this? Three ways:
The first way is go to Mass often. Like the people of Samaria in the first reading today, they came to Philip, one of the seven deacons that the apostles appointed, and heard the word of Christ proclaimed, the word of God and accepted it. And then apostles Peter and John laid hands on them and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
We should come often to the Church to hear the word of God. We should come often to the Church to receive the sacraments. Every day you can hear the Word of God proclaimed in churches everywhere, and you can receive the Body and Blood Christ and the Holy Spirit can make his dwelling in you. Every day there is Mass celebrated, not only on Sundays! You can receive Christ every day! Jesus wants dwell in you! I remember when I was working in advertising, I would leave for my lunch break at least once a week and go to the Co-Cathedral downtown for daily Mass at noon and then afterwards eat a quick meal. It’s possible.
If we have fallen in love with God, we will find ourselves planning our day around God instead of planning our time with God around other things.
The second way is to make time get to know Christ better. St. Peter in the second reading says to us: “Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Perhaps you have a relationship with God already, perhaps you have met the loving Christ in your life. Now it’s time to grow in knowledge of him. To learn more about who He is, what he desires, what makes his heart break. We should read the bible and listen to the heart of Christ daily. We should also study the Catechism! The Church has given us a great resource that is firmly rooted in the word of God. Another way is our online resource we have at St. Ignatius: FORMED.org. For those who don’t know what FORMED.org is, it’s like Catholic Netflix. There are lots of great talks, movies and bible studies that you can enjoy. And it’s all free! You simply need to put in our parish code which you can find in the bulletin.
The final way is to spend time daily conversing with Christ. If you have been baptized and confirmed, you have received the Holy Spirit, and in a little bit you will receive the Body and Blood of Christ in your heart. Because of this, you can meet God who dwells inside of you! Go to that deep place inside of you and speak with him. More importantly, listen to him. As St. Teresa of Avila says, “prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” And in another place she says, "Prayer is simply being alone with Him, looking at Him, sharing His friendship, loving Him and allowing oneself to be loved".
Fall deeper in love with God today. Go to Mass often. Learn more about Christ. And spend time with him in your heart daily.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
