THE LOVE THAT CHOSE US FIRST

6th Sunday of Easter
Jn 15:9-17 (Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / Ps 98 / 1 Jn 4:7-10)

Many are looking for jobs nowadays. Screenings for different forms of employment are left and right. Before an applicant shows up for his job interview, he diligently prepares himself. Aside from practicing his answers beforehand, he never forgets to ask some heavenly aid.

The applicant willingly submits himself to many tests in the hope that he would be chosen for the job. The possibility of failure and rejection is very real, but the tough hope that he might be chosen gives him the courage to endure all the tension that goes with job hunting. To be chosen means to be picked out, to be favored, to be selected as the best among the rest. This is the reason why despite the difficulty, the risk is worth taking.

When the applicant passes the exams and the interviews, tables change. Whereas before the company had the choice, now he has the choice to accept or reject the company’s offer. The choice suddenly belongs to the applicant. And true choice presupposes the freedom and power to commit one’s self.

When St. John speaks about the love of God in the second reading and the gospel today, he clarifies what he means – “This is love: not that we love God but that God has loved us first.” The gospel stresses the same message: “You did not choose Me. I chose you.” We do not need to fall in line and submit an application form and resume for God to choose us. He already made the eternal decision: He loved us. He made His choice: He chose us.

“As the Father has loved Me, so I love you,” Jesus said. Clearly, the measure of Jesus’ love for us is the measure of the Father’s love for Him. Jesus loves us so much because the Father not only loves Him so much but also because the Father has loved Him first.

The love of God comes first. And precisely because God loves us that we have the power and freedom to also choose God. He has already made known His choice of us: “You did not choose Me. I chose you.” Having said this, Jesus admonishes us: “Remain in My love.” This expresses the hope that we would value God’s choice of us. Can we remain in the love that chooses us?

The love of God comes first. He already loves us that is why He can command us to love. Pope Benedict XVI said, “Love can be commanded because it has first been given.” To love our fellow human being as God loves us is imitating Jesus who loves us as the Father loves Him.

The love of God is based on a choice: He loves because He chooses to love. Love is a decision. And this decision is a choice that remains even unto death. Indeed, is there a love greater than laying down one’s life for one’s friends? None. And Jesus Himself is the supreme example of this love: His love brought Him to the cross and the love of the Father raised Him from the dead. Jesus spent Himself, gave Himself until He had nothing more to give. He emptied Himself.

To love is to choose. In everything He did, Jesus always chose to love. He chose to love at all times. This choice drained Him, squeezed out all the life in Him, killed Him.

My favorite place, O Lord, is inside Thy hug which I never need to beg for but only to hug Thee back.  Amen.