Lent: It is all about love!

The love of Christ is a central element of Christian belief. It refers both to the love of Jesus Christ for humanity, and to the love of Christians for Christ. These two aspects are not separate teachings—the love of Christians for Christ is simply a reflection of his love for his followers.

In the Gospel according to John, the parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21) symbolizes the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ based on his love:  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. There shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

And in 1 John 4:19, the spontaneous nature of this love is highlighted: "We love, because he first loved us", expresses our love of Christ as a mirroring of Christ's own love for us.

John is saying that our love of Christ results in the following of his commandments. In John 14:15, Jesus states, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." and John 14:23 reconfirms that: "If a person loves me, he will keep my word". During the Last Supper Jesus gives a new commandment to his eleven remaining disciples: "Love one another; as I have loved you" and states that: "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples."

During our Lenten journey it is our love of Christ that grows because of a deeper understanding of his love for us.  The cross is the ultimate proof and revelation of his love. And when we learn anew during this season to take up our cross to follow him, our Easter joy will be complete when we see his glorious victory that will keep our love for Jesus and his love for us, gloriously alive for all eternity.