Love demands presence not presents
Bro. Ramil Maranan, SDB
Good evening...
Our prayer deepens our relationship with God. As we deepen our relationship with god we become lovable and more loving person. And this love is expressed in our deeds.
Allow me to begin this sermonette with a simple story.
Once, there was a young man who wrote a flowery letter to his girlfriend.
It goes like this...
Dear Joanna,
I just want you to know that I love you with every piece of my being.
I think about you every day, I dream about you every night.
I am willing to give my heart and my soul and they are yours forever.
I can climb the highest mountain.
I can swim the seven seas.
I can fight the most dangerous lion in the jungle to prove my great love for you.
Then he signed:
Lovingly yours,
Justin
Below the letter he scribbled a P.S. (or postscript)
“My love, I’ll visit you on Sunday if it will not rain.”
On the letter that you have heard, the young man expressed his love using sweet words. Towards the end of the letter he mentioned that he will be visiting her on Sunday, but with a condition, if it will not rain. As for me this is not a genuine love, in others words unauthentic love. I didn’t see the sincerity and the sense of sacrifice of the man.
It is so easy to profess love with sweet and lofty words but when it calls for sacrifice, that’s a different story. I think that the test of true love is deeds. According to Kahlil Gibran, “Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of seasons.” Love is not seasonal. It doesn’t need condition but it demands presence not present. Love demands presence not presents. That in all gifts no matter how great or small derives their ultimate value from the giver’s intention. Gifts are therefore just signs. Their real value is not intrinsic to them: a simple token out of gratuitous love is much more valuable than expensive gifts. The important is not the gift, but the one who gives the gift.
Deeds are test of true love. True love involves friendship, the joy of just being together, of smiling together, sharing things, doing things, being concerned about each other, supporting and encouraging each other especially in moments of difficulties and discouragements. I believe that, it is basically the ideal life-of-relationship in the community. That the true love involves friendship, the joy of just being together, of smiling together, sharing things, doing things, being concerned about each other, supporting and encouraging each other especially in moments of difficulties and discouragements.
True love is expressed by generous people who desire not to receive but only to give. They are not worried about what they will get later. According to Pope Benedict XVI on his encyclical letter Deus Caritas est, “Those who give love must also receive love.” Maybe this love may not be coming from the beloved but from the one who is love–that is God. As what St. Francis de Sales said, “The true lover is a humble person never thinks anyone has done him wrong.”[1] And he believes that in this life everything has its own meaning and significance that would help him to grow and develop a deep relationship with his Creator and his neighbour. Because he only desire of the lover is only the beloved and nothing else. The heart of the lover is willing to sacrifice, willing to give everything, willing to sacrifice even his dreams and his only life. In our case we are also ding this—the little sacrifice that we are doing especially in doing our apostolate and assistance—wasting our time with the young.
I wholeheartedly believe we all have the capacity and power to love and this capacity and power to love is from God. And no one can truly love unless God is active within him. As Jesus would say, “without me you can do nothing. You cannot bear fruit. Because, I am the vine and you are the branches.” Only he who knows God can know the meaning of love. Because God is Love Himself. But how can we know him? We can know him by our intimate relationship with him that is through prayer.
We all know that Saint John Bosco, our beloved father and founder is a true lover. Or in other words, “a man of prayer” his intimate relationship with God is manifested in his deeds – all his deeds expressed hid love with God. We have seen all these from the very beginning until the end of his life. The total dedication of himself to the mission entrusted to him by God, especially the salvation of the souls of the young. He did not hesitate to ask or beg for money for his boys. And his consistent communion with God helped him to express his love true his deeds. He wrote many catechetical materials and about the life of saints, for the boys because he wanted to let them know how he loved them true deeds.
When Don Bosco gave himself to his ministry, his intention was to consecrate all his energies to the greater glory of God and the good of souls; he intended to work to produce good citizens of this world, hoping that in due time they would be worthy citizens of heaven.
We, the Salesians of Don Bosco, follow Jesus Christ closely by choosing an intensely evangelical way of loving God and our neighbour with undivided heart, [2]following the example and spirit of Don Bosco. God calls us to live in community and entrusts us with brothers to love. The brotherly love, our pastoral charity and the practice of evangelical counsels are the bonds which form us into one and constantly reinforce communion—the communion of true lovers of God. Now, I remember the first recollection we had here in the Post novitiate given by Fr. Rolo Alcasid, SDB. He said, “Intimacy with God leads to love for his people – a love which we call pastoral charity. It is the love of Christ Himself –experienced by us.
True love determines the way we relate with people. The signals that we send – look of our eyes, the feel of our touch, the words we speak, the joke we make and the stories we tell –that there is nothing in us that doesn’t project meaning. Because we are the walking, living, breathing and talking signs. And so if we are filled with God’s love, people will know, even if they will not understand. And because of these, we become one heart and one soul in loving and serving God, and in helping one another despite our imperfections and differences in personalities.[3] People will continue to respect us on account of the God we represent.
We pledge ourselves to build up the community in which we live. And we must love our community despite its imperfections, and know that in it we find the presence of Christ the absolute true and humble lover. And “if there is true love,” according to Don Bosco, “you will seek nothing else but the greater glory of God”[4] and the salvation of souls.
Deeds are test of true love. And the source of this true love is God. To whom we should have intimate relationship—the intimate relationship which is basically developed through prayer. Because whenever we pray, we become aware of God, we become aware of God’s love, and our hearts is being filled with love. And we cannot but share this love to other by our deeds.
The whole life of Don Bosco is a prayer. He lived not so much for all the activities he did but all that he did was an offering to the Father. When we unite ourselves in prayer with Jesus, our whole life becomes a prayer – a liturgy of life. And like Don Bosco, everything we do becomes an offering to the Father out of love.
Our prayer deepens our relationship with God. As we deepen our relationship with god we become lovable and more loving person. And this love is expressed in our deeds.
St. John Bosco...
Pray for us!
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