Christianity is Passionate Love
Thursday, December 21, 2023
by Fr. David M. Knight
View readings for 3rd Thursday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings
Lectionary no. 197 (Song of Songs 2:8-14 or Zephaniah 3:14-18; Psalm 33; Luke 1:39-45)
Arise, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! Song of Songs 2:10
Saint Ignatius once got so carried away with sorrow for his sins that he began beating himself in the chest with a rock. He almost died.
Stories like this inspired the saying, “Saints are to be admired but not imitated”—at least, not in their excesses. But the fact is, they became Saints. What did they have that we don’t?
The answer is, “Passion.” Until we are passionate in our love for Christ, we haven’t reached the core of Christianity.
Passion is human. It is emotional, physical. Until we get emotional and physical with God, we don’t know Christian love. And Jesus set us the example.
He cried at Lazarus’s tomb. Got angry with the Pharisees. Sweat blood in the garden. Reached the peak of passion on the cross. Until we give physical expression to our love for God, we are not passionate. And we are refusing to be Christian.
We are even prim and proper at Mass! Isn’t it true we hold back from ever showing enthusiasm for religion? Suppose we tried showing it for Jesus instead.
Without giving passionate expression to our love for God, we will never experience that “life to the full” that Jesus came to give.
DAILY PRACTICE: Sing a little louder at Mass. Put some feeling into it.
ADVENT PRAYER: I belong to my lover, and my lover belongs to me (Song of Songs, 6:3).
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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