Love: The DNA of the Church

(Below is an excerpt from “I Am with You Always Until the End of the Age: A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Michael Mulvey.”)

The characteristics of divine love help us recognize that God’s love points us toward our neighbors to build a rapport of unity with every person we encounter. Pope Francis speaks of accompanying people rather than merely doing a kind act. He calls for us to be close to people and offer them friendship. It is of utmost importance for parishes and all of us to create welcoming environments for God’s love.

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Love then is our great call and vocation. It is the DNA of the Church. As your bishop, I want to recommit myself first and then ask the same of every Catholic in the diocese, every parish, community, and Catholic organization in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Please join me in this renewed focus on what is the “heart” and “life blood” of the Body of Christ. 

To love as God loves is something we humans must learn. Jesus is the teacher and the one who has revealed love to us by his words and actions. Recalling his actions and teachings in the Gospels, we can put together a “handbook” of what characterizes divine love. And how we can live divine love in each circumstance each day.

We identify the first characteristic of divine love by the fact that God loves everyone. Jesus did not show partiality or “hang out” only with his friends or people who were like-minded with him. He gave himself and spent time with all those he met. Think of his encounters with Zacchaeus in Jericho, the tax collectors that people scorned, the sinful woman who people wished to stone, and the Samaritan woman at the well.

The second distinctive mark of divine love shows that God takes the first step. St. Paul reminds the Romans, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). While we were sinners, God made his move toward us. Love takes the initiative and is first to reach out. Love does not expect or wait for others to reach out to us. Jesus never waited for a person to be perfect before reaching out to them. Love always acts first. 

A third mark is how God sees us. The Father sees us through the eyes of his Son. St. Matthew in Chapter 25 speaks of the filter through which Jesus instructs us to look into the soul of every person.  “...whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). The grace to see Jesus in every person is the key to finding the presence of Jesus each day in those we meet. The people we encounter is an opportunity to love Jesus in him or her. The words of Jesus are clear. Are we to doubt his words, dispute them, or rationalize that such a meeting of the divine is utterly impossible?  

Jesus called for the ultimate test of love by calling us to love our enemies. Again, he tells us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48). Jesus himself gave the supreme example of mercy on the cross when he asked the Father to forgive those who crucified him. 

We discover a fourth characteristic of God’s love in the fact that love accompanies people and shares in their situation. Love makes room for everyone. St. Paul best describes this aspect of God’s love in his first letter to the Corinthians. “Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win over those under the law. To those outside the law I became like one outside the law—though I am not outside God’s law but within the law of Christ—to win over those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may have a share in it” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

These four characteristics of divine love can revolutionize our Christian life. Loving daily in this way can transform the Church and bring her to witness love before the world, yearning for a witness. We must not imagine love as something superficial or romantic. Love is a commitment to step beyond ourselves beyond our comfort and convenience. Love puts “others” first in contrast to a society that proclaims “me” first. St. Paul encouraged the Philippians, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). 

Sincerely your brother in Christ,