22 April | Youth
«Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.» John 13:1
Loving little is a way to avoid suffering. Closing yourself for love is another. Loving hurts, and only those who have genuinely loved know what that is. Love and “suffering” do not have to go together, however, in this life, it happens. This is because imperfect people hesitate, backtrack, disappoint, deceive, fail to respond, give up, leave. Humans are like this. We fail, we doubt, we leave others in the background, we give things with ulterior motives. And, due to a lack of altruism, perseverance and selflessness, we fail to live up to what we believe in. So, we exchange bread for crumbs. We accept touches devoid of affection or commitment. We smile when faced with superficial compliments. We disregard limits. We become easy prey for all types of people who want to take advantage of us.
Jesus came to help us solve these problems. He taught us that true love redeems, heals, saves, cares, transforms and restores. He loved the imperfect people He lived with. Among His loved ones there were short-tempered, silent, liars, bossy, bratty, funny, nosy, manipulative, suspicious, gossipers, cheaters... a huge list of “personalities” that could include any of us! Loving them made a difference.
One Sunday morning, Silas, a neighborhood boy, was sad. His brother had gone to work with his father. They left at dawn heading to another city to load a truck with bricks. Silas regretted not being chosen. Curious, I asked why. I assumed it was a source of joy to escape a Sunday of hard work and I imagined he was sad because he felt inferior to his brother. His answer surprised me: “If I had gone, I could have spent more time with my dad.” That 11-year-old boy, the son of an illiterate father who worked odd jobs to survive, taught me that the company of the imperfect people we love matters more than the difficulties we may go through together.
Jesus was resilient, persevering, fierce. He loved in the worst circumstances and saw it through to the end. For this reason, the Bible presents Him as the champion of love. He is capable of loving even people full of mistakes like you and me. Would you like Him to awaken in you today the desire to love in the incredible and powerful way He taught us?