Love Incarnate: 

The DNA of Communion

STC:  In your pastoral letter, “I Am With You Always to the End of the Age,” you call our attention to the life of the Trinity through traits of divine love in the section, “The DNA of Communion.” As we approach Christmas, can you expand on these characteristics of God’s love?

Bishop Mulvey: The common definition of DNA is the fundamental and distinctive characteristics or qualities of someone or something. I like the term DNA of Communion because it helps to focus on what is most essential in us as Church. Communion is what makes us Church. We are not just a gathering of individuals. We are the people of God. Therefore, to understand us as Church, we look at God, who is three persons, united as one. The Church, too should be one and yet distinct. This is the mystery of true love that becomes communion.

We understand the DNA of Communion from Jesus. The full expression of His life and message is love, love without distinction. Jesus loved everyone. He did not exclude anyone. This is the first trait of divine love. As simple as it appears, we all know how difficult it is to love everyone without judgment, prejudice, or discrimination. If love creates community (unity), then we as the Body of Christ must strive to love everyone, as God does.

The second distinctive mark of divine love is taking the first step. God took the first step toward us. Saint Paul writes that while we were still sinners, God sent His Son to us. Regardless of where we are in life, God encounters us with His love. If we are going to love as God loves, we too need to be the first to love, even though that first step might be difficult. It could happen that this year as we gather for the Christmas meal, we might remember that someone at the table may have offended us. The hurt may still be “burning inside.” Maybe it has become a longstanding resentment. What should we do to share in God’s love? Do not hold onto those feelings. Take the first step, reconcile by being first to show kindness. Doing something extra-special for that person first brings God’s love into the family gathering. That is a true mark of the DNA of Communion in a Christian’s life, to take the initiative in loving.

The third distinctive mark for us to live out is to see one another as God sees us. God loves us with our faults, as we are. Our faults do not obstruct God’s love for us. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus said: “Whatever you do to the least, you have done to me. When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was in prison, you came to see me” (Matthew 25: 35-40). Living the DNA of Communion means to love every person as God loves us, in other words, to “see” Jesus in the other. 

STC: The kind of love you are talking about is very demanding. How can we attain that level of love? 

Bishop Mulvey: We get there with God’s grace and practice. We can turn to God for help and ask for His grace to be able to love as He loves. When we recognize Jesus in a person, we see someone to love beyond their faults, beyond their mistakes, beyond the hurts that they may have caused others. This Christmas, we are called to refocus the eyes of our soul to recognize Jesus in the people we encounter. 

Here is a common experience – you are shopping at the grocery store, and maybe the cashier is short and a bit rude to you because of something that happened with the person ahead of you. If you recognize Jesus in him or her, you will try to forgive and love the cashier. All our actions can become love: giving a gift, accompanying a person in their grief, sharing a moment of happiness, listening to an opposing point of view without judgment, praying for someone whom you find challenging to love. When this way of life takes root in us, then love expands. Love never diminishes in this way, and it expands toward unity (communion). It builds bridges among people who before were strangers and even enemies. 

Finally, let us look at the fourth distinctive mark of divine love. It is accompaniment. Love accompanies people calling us to share in their situation. It may not be easy to walk alongside someone who is suffering; nevertheless, love accompanies. God might be calling us to accompany someone who has lost a loved one, perhaps to COVID-19. Especially at this time of the year, we might know someone who is alone because their family is far away. Let’s accompany them in love and be a witness of Jesus’ love for them.

STC: In your pastoral letter, you say that the four characteristics of divine love can revolutionize our Christian life. Can you reflect on what that means?

Bishop Mulvey: When I speak of revolution, I look to the Latin root of the word, which means to turn around. These four characteristics of divine love, when practiced, can turn our lives around. Saint Pope Paul VI spoke of a “civilization of love,” as did Saint Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis has also called for a civilization of love. Society is passing through a Dark Night. We can help change that. Let’s not find a way to separate or divide one another. Rather let’s look at ourselves as family, sisters and brothers together. We belong to each other because we have one Father, and through his Son, the Child of Bethlehem, he calls us to love one another to build communion. Would this not appear to be a peaceful “revolution” today? 

STC: What would you like the Church in the Diocese of Corpus Christi to strive for this Christmas and throughout the year?

Bishop Mulvey: During this Christmas time, I invite all of us to live according to what Jesus brought on that first Christmas - the love that unites people. Let us apply the four distinctive marks of divine love this Christmas: love everyone, take the first step, to see Jesus in others and accompany others. That is my prayer for all of us this Christmas. 

Read in Spanish here.