We learn to love by loving ourselves. We are asked by Jesus to love others as we love ourselves. Though we say love is blind, actually love is never blind, we love others for something that we have seen in them. It could be something physical or external, or something spiritual and internal. The physical and the external fade away, unless the reason for love moves to the internal and spiritual, love too will fade away. What is the reason that we have to love ourselves? Are they external and physical, or are they internal and spiritual? What is external and physical, like our beauty, money, power, and position can all fade away; and one day we may not have a reason to love ourselves. What is internal and spiritual, like, awareness, compassion, endurance, etc. stays on, and so is our reason to love ourselves. Self-esteem + respect is equal to spirituality.
When living with others, there is only one commandment -love, it may be expressed in many ways, and there is only one violence -having no love may be expressed in many ways. The punishment for no love is excess love. Jesus points out to Simon the Pharisee that when the repented sinful woman came and washed the feet of the Lord in his house, ‘she has not ceased from kissing.’ Kissing/meeting/hugging another becomes the new form of repentance and means less self-torturing, going into depression, or alcoholism. Time is short, therefore invest more in love. When we cannot show that excess love to the person we have hurt, we can show that to the particular group. If one has been abusive to a woman, and we can’t show excess respect to that woman as a mark of repentance, show respect to every woman that we meet. Most of our individual actions toward one particular is the result of our attitude and prejudice toward that segment of people.
Notes taken during my annual retreat, preached by Bobby Jose Kattikad, Capuchin.
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