Angelus News | April 19-26, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 15

NEW WORLD
OF FAITH
BY ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
Love is the reason
As I write, we have entered into Holy
Week, the week of salvation, the week
of love.
Love is the reason for everything
we see in these days leading up to
Jesus’ passion, crucifixion, death, and
resurrection.
God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son, so believing in him we
will not perish. We understand these
beautiful words from the Gospel.
But Jesus died not only for “the
world.” He died for you and for me,
for each and every person who ever
lived and every person who is yet to
be born.
God’s love is personal. We can each
say, as Saint Paul did, “I live by faith
in the Son of God who has loved me
and given himself up for me.”
It is an ancient devotion to read the
Passion stories in each of the Gospels
during Holy Week. I encourage you
to do it.
It is important to remember when
we read that it was all for love; every
word and gesture, all the humiliation
and suffering.
In these columns during Lent, I have
been trying to read the Gospels with
more prayer and more “intentionality”
— really being conscious of how the
Gospels are meant to be “transformative”
and to form us more and more in
the likeness of Christ.
The imitation of Christ is the way of
the saints, and we are all called to be
saints.
We understand what this means
when we read Christ’s words and the
stories of his life. In the pages of the
Gospel it is clear that we are called to
imitate his humility and compassion,
his zeal for saving souls, his servant’s
heart. We can see that, like him, we
are called to be a good friend to others
and men and women of prayer.
We should not forget that Jesus is
still teaching and guiding us from the
cross and in his passion. In fact, Paul
said that in his death on the cross, we
can see the mind of Christ, his whole
attitude.
We need to let Jesus look down upon
us from the cross. We need to raise
our eyes above ourselves, to feel his
gaze. It is all love, it is all compassion.
When we see ourselves reflected in
Christ’s eyes, we understand in the
most personal way that he knew us
and loved us even before we were
created. We need to let ourselves be
loved by him, lift up our hearts to
accept his mercy.
For love, Jesus died for you and for
me on the cross. He asks us to live our
lives as a response to his death. He
asks us to live for him, as he died for
us — out of love.
We have all heard Paul’s litany in
praise of love: “Love is patient, love
is kind. It is not jealous. ...” This is
one of the most popular readings at
weddings, and many families have
Paul’s words framed in their home —
a beautiful reminder of how they want
to live.
But as Paul reminds us, our human
love is meant to be a mirror of the
love that we are shown in Jesus.
In Christ’s passion and death, we see
love that is patient and kind, love that
bears all things and endures all things.
On the cross, we see love that never
fails, love so strong not even death can
defeat it.
When we see human love, we see
the Trinity, Saint Augustine told us.
God is love and we are created in his
image. We are made out of love and
we are made for the sake of love.
That is why love is Christ’s new commandment,
and he makes his love the
measure and pattern for our love.
There is no greater love than a life
broken and shared and given for others.
Jesus laid down his life even for
those who did not love him in return.
He loved us with no limit, and he
loved us until the end.
This is the love that he calls us to, as
Paul teaches: “Be imitators of God, as
beloved children, and live in love as
Christ loved us and handed himself
over for us as a sacrificial offering to
God.”
Christian love is always sacrificial; we
love as we have been loved. We give
our lives for the love of God — as he
gave his life out of love for us.
Pray for me this week and I will pray
for you. I wish all of you and your
families and loved ones all the joy of
Easter.
May our Blessed Mother Mary, who
stood at the foot of the cross and witnessed
his resurrection, help us to see
that love is the reason for Jesus and
love is the reason for our lives.
To read more columns by Archbishop José H. Gomez or to subscribe, visit www.angelusnews.com.
April 19-26, 2019 • ANGELUS • 5