Sunday, August 20, 2017

THAT YE LOVE ONE ANOTHER

"Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto... a certain king, which would take account of his servants."  In numerous occasions throughout the Gospels, in fact, our Lord likens the Kingdom to this, that, or the other.  But why does he so often speak in parables, likening it to something else, rather than simply explaining to His listeners what the Kingdom actually is?  It is because those good things God has in store for those who love Him and abide by His commandments belong to a realm so far beyond anything of which the human mind is capable of conceiving that it is only through a comparison with the things of this world that we can begin to grasp that ineffable reality that transcends even the most exalted philosophical construct that is rooted in our experience of this visible and transient world.

It is through the eyes of faith alone that we can begin to perceive beyond and beneath this phenomenal world of the five senses a realm of existence rooted not in time, but in eternity, unbounded by the limitations of space and time because it is permeated by the boundless and unconditional love of God.  For truly, it seems to me (sinful and unclean though I am, mired in the mud of the passions) that the love of God (or rather, the God Who is love) is not only the foundation and ultimate goal of the entire created order, but also the only means we are given by which we might (by God's grace) cast aside the darkness of sin and despair and be made worthy in the end of that ineffable glory of eternal life in God's heavenly Kingdom. 

But meanwhile, these heartfelt words of mine are... just words.  Trials and tribulations abound for us all, for having been called forth from non-existence into being, we have been cast forth upon the sea of life, beset by the raging waves of the passions, often struggling merely to tread water amidst the tumultuous waves of this storm-tossed world.

Only, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God," Christ commands us, and all else that is necessary for us in this earthly life will be added unto us.  Therefore, "Do not be anxious for tomorrow, for sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."  Indeed it is!  As for the ultimate goal of our existence--true and eternal life in the Kingdom of God--this cannot be comprehended by words alone.  It can only be experienced --in the here and now--through striving by every possible means to live our lives in accordance with the commandments of God.  Above all, that we might abide by our Lord's first and foremost commandment, "That ye love one another."  This much we can surely  do, if we remember that God first loved us, having so loved the world that "He sent His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him" might enjoy the fullness of life in His eternal Kingdom.   And so we are enjoined to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to forgive those who have trespassed against us as we ourselves have been forgiven.  Only then shall our fallen human nature be transfigured by the uncreated light of God's glory.

For if we struggle at all times during this earthly pilgrimage to keep this one simple command--that we "love one another"-- we are already close to the Kingdom--which is a Kingdom not of words and theological discourse, but rather of the power of God at work in a humble and contrite heart in which every egotistical thought and desire has been put to death, that having died with Christ in the waters of Baptism, we might be deemed worthy of resurrection to eternal life.

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