22. Love    220          

Love is power coming from God. In God, love is identified with the inner communion of the Three Divine Persons (see 143). God revealed Himself to Moses as He Who Is and as Merciful (see 32, 39). However, after knowing Christ, John says: God is love (1 Jn 4:8).

221

In the Old Testament God’s love was manifested as communicated with humans. Israel, seeing how God chose, guided it (Ps 89, 105, 106, 107; Is 63:7), forgave (Ex 32:11-14) and redeem it (Is 40; 41) understood God’s jealous love for His people (Is 5; 54:6-8). The prophets, as they became aware of the ever closer relationship between themselves and God, realized God’s strong love (Ezk 3:8; Mic 2:8), a tender (1 K 19) and demanding (Jer 15:10; 20:7) love for His friends.

222

Love for God is the first command for Israel (Dt 6:1, 30) and it will continue to be the first for Christians (Mk 12:28).

223

When Jesus came, tried to reveal something of the unique love that the Father has for His Son (Jn 3:35; 5:20; 17:24; see 117). Jesus, in turn, responds to the Father’s love with total surrender (Mk 1:35; Mt 11:25) in perfect accord with the Father’s will (Heb 10:5; Jn 4:34; 6:38). He shows this divine love springing from His heart to His friends (Jn 11; 13:1; 15:9-17; 18:8), to the marginalized (Mk 1:140), to sinners (Lk 7:36; 19:1), to His very enemies (Lk 23:34) and to all people (Mt 11:28; Acts 10:38); that they may also understand the love the Father has for them (see 137). We love Jesus by keeping His Word (Jn 14:15-23) and by renouncing everything in order to follow Him (Mk 10:17-21; Lk 14:25).

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In His Passion and death Jesus reaches the culmination of love. Love for the Father, obeying Him even to His death on the cross (Mt 26:39; 27:46; Heb 4:15), while the Father is silent He cares for and forgives each person (Lk 23:28; Jn 19:26; Lk 23:34-43). Jesus gives everything to everyone (Mk 10:45; 14:24; 2 Cor 5:14).

225

Love for others is mentioned in many Old Testament texts (Lev 19:18; Det 10:18). Even more, in many places of the Law (Ex 20:12-17) and of the prophets (Am 1-2; Is 1:14-17; 10:2; 65:13; Jer 9:2-5; Ezk 18:5-9; Mic 3:5), it said that we cannot please God without respecting others; doing them justice, freeing them from oppression (Is 58) and attending to the most humble (Ex 22:20-26; 23:4-12; Jer 9:4; 22:15; Pro 14:21; Sir 4; 25:1; Wis 2:10).

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Jesus closely relates the two main commands (Mk 12:28-33). The love for one’s neighbor is the basis of Christian morality (see 201 and 203) to the degree that it tries to imitate the love of the Father, perfect and merciful (Mt 5:48; Lk 6:36; Eph 5:1 1 Jn 4:11) and it is a response to the love with which God first loved us (1 Jn 3:16; 4:10-19). Love is the power which the Holy Spirit communicated to us (Rom 5:5) and it is nourished by contemplating Christ’s limitless love (Eph 3:18 2 Cor 5:14).

227

On the eve of His Passion, Jesus emphasizes love for one another as His new command: Jn 13:12-15; 34-35; 15:9-13; 1 Jn 2:6-8.

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Christian love is a gift without bounds, leading us to serve one another (Gal 5:13). It goes to all without consideration of social barriers (Mk 2:13; Lk 10:29; 14:13; Gal 3:28). It is manifested in forgiveness (Mt 5:43; commentary and references; Mt 18:21) and it is not denied to enemies. It inspires us to make effort to understand the others, to respect their ideas (Rom 12:15-18; 14:1-10), to bear their limitations (1 Cor 13). The love, which is able to give and to receive, builds up the Church (1 Cor 8:1; Eph 4:16; see 196) and lead us to perfection (Phil 1:9).