Love, Peace, Faith --> "The Life": May 2014

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    Empty love, always vulgar and demeaning, and oftentimes cloaked in pseudo-religious terms, not only dehumanizes us, but, in the end, depoliticizes us. Love, however, impels us to care for everything we hold in common, especially the common good that is beneficial for fostering the well-being of each individual. A political policy that is devoid of any mysticism for others, that is devoid of any passion for their well-being, ends up being a rationale for some negotiating process or the devouring of everything in order to enjoy the sheer pleasure of power. Here, there is no ethical way possible simply because there is a lack of interest in others.

    While I was pondering how Jesus lived out and conveyed his commandment of love, a thought came to mind. In today's world, Jesus would appear weak to many, since they thirst for unlimited power and avoid anything that conveys weakness. We cannot bear to see ourselves as weak. Any dialogue and any search for truth that leads us to work together in a common endeavor involves listening, making concessions, recognizing errors, accepting failures and mistakes. It means accepting weakness. But it seems like we always succumb to exactly the opposite: the mistakes are made by "others," and certainly occur "elsewhere." There are the crimes, the tragedies, the heavy debts we amass as the result of corruption ... but "it's nobody's fault." Nobody takes responsibility for what needs to be done and has been done. It seems like an unconscious game: "It's nobody's fault" has become, in short, a reality, and perhaps we have managed to become and feel as though we are that "nobody."

    As regards power, pursuing and accumulating power as some form of adrenaline is merely an artificial sensation of satisfaction that is here today but leads to self-destruction tomorrow. Real power is love: love that empowers others, love that sparks initiatives, love that no chain can hold because this love is capable of loving even on the cross or on a deathbed. It has no need of youthful beauty, recognition or approval, money or prestige. It simply flows forth and is unstoppable. When slandered or defeated, it unquestionably acquires greater recognition. The Jesus who was weak and insignificant in the eyes of politicians and the powerful of the land revolutionized the world.

    The commandment of love suggests that we feel the call to work on our capacity to love. It is not merely an impulse of nature, but a gift that, through God's initiative and through our own nature, strengthens us as individuals if we nourish and cultivate it. On the other hand, without love the soul withers and hardens, it readily becomes cruel. It is no wonder that from ancient times people have traditionally adopted the term "heartless" to describe those who have no compassion or consideration for others. Love inspires nobility in the scribe and in Jesus, even though they think differently. And noblesse oblige, Jesus opens the door to building up the Kingdom; mutual trust, based on trust in a higher power, makes it easier for us not only to live together, but also to work together as a nation in building a community that will benefit us all.

    Love today invites us to look beyond the short-term, taking concern for the generations to come, and not leaving them a legacy of easy solutions. It invites us to look beyond a relativism that is immature, complacent, and cowardly. It invites us to move forward without without numbing ourselves to reality, without being like ostriches burying their heads in he sand in the face of failures and mistakes. Love invites us to accept that in our very weakness is all the potential needed to reconstruct our lives, to be reconciled with each other, and to grow.

    Far from being sheer sentimentality or mere impulse, love is sublime, irreplaceable, and fundamental task that we need to propose in this day and age to a dehumanized society. I mentioned that in two of his encylicals Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that the whole ascent of the wonderful, vitalizing force of love, of man's desire, is not complete, is not ennobled, and does not find its ultimate true meaning except in love that comes as a gift from God. Only then will we experience our efforts, our achievements, and our failures as solid and foundational, even though they may be as mixed and conflicting as were the events of May 1810. We already know where the voracious greed for power, the imposition of one's ideas as absolute, and the rejection of those who think differently will take us: to a numbness of conscience and to abandonment. Only the commandment of love, in all its simplicity -- steady, humble, unassuming but firm in conviction and in commitment to others -- can save us.

    Mary, Our Lady of Lujan, model of love, silent and patient love, will not fail to accompany us and bless us at the foot of our cross and in the light of hope.