Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever, we are in the octave of Easter and for those
of us who celebrated or participated at the Easter Sunday Mass, we remember on Easter
Sunday morning we heard the account of the disciples finding the empty tomb taken from
John chapter 20 and we heard John speak of himself there in the third person calling
himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, John 20 verse 2. He first talked about himself
that way in his gospel at the Last Supper in John 13 23 where we read one of his disciples
whom Jesus loved was lying close to the breast of Jesus. St. John wrote the gospel attributed
to him and one of the things that he wants to share with us in his gospel is that he
truly knew in his head and in his heart that Jesus loved him. It might be one of the questions
that he would have for us too. Do you know in your head and in your heart that God loves
you? Very important question. If we have trouble trusting in God, maybe that's really the problem.
Maybe you don't really know in your heart that he loves you and that he always has your
best interest in mind in everything. Why do so few baptized Catholics try to remain faithful
to the Ten Commandments and frequent the sacraments and live in a state of grace? Well probably
because they've never had a real experience of God for one but even more so probably because
they don't really have the love of God in their heart. They really don't know in their
heart that God loves them. We love, says the beloved Apostle, because God has first loved us.
1 John 4 verse 19. Many Catholics have never really had an encounter with that first love
or rather they've encountered him in the sacraments but they've never recognized him. That was the
gospel yesterday, right? The disciples on the road to Emmaus who were walking with Jesus but didn't
recognize him at first. Luke's gospel said that their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
Luke 24 16. Maybe many Catholics are prevented from recognizing the Lord in the sacraments and
in their lives because they really don't have any faith in him, sadly. St. John is the one who at
the foot of the cross heard Jesus' last words. He heard the cry from the cross, I thirst, John 19
28. St. John is also the one in the same gospel who shares with us the story of the Lord's encounter
with the woman at the well at John chapter 4. In that encounter Jesus was the first one to speak
to the Samaritan woman. Do you remember what Jesus asked her? What's the first thing he said to her?
He said, give me a drink or give me to drink, he said in John 4 verse 7. So I thirst from the cross,
give me to drink at the well. What's Jesus thirsting for? He's thirsting for the one thing
that only you can give him. He's thirsting for your love specifically. Only you can give him your love.
No one else can give him that. It's true also what Jesus says in John's gospel. It's true that whoever
comes, whoever comes to him, whoever drinks the water that he will give will never thirst, John 4 14.
It's true as he says that the person who comes to him will never hunger, the one who believes in him
will never thirst, again John 6 35. But we know that love is a two-way street. Love's not just about
take, take, take, give me, give me, give me. It's also about give, give, give. It's also what I give as well
in the relationship. The Lord wants you to learn to receive his love and be open to his love, but then he
deeply desires that you love him in return. And again, you're the only one who can give him that one thing
that he's thirsting for. You're the only one who can give him your love. Your spouse can't do it, okay,
your children can't do it, the prayer group can't do it, your co-workers, your friends can't do it.
You're the only one who can give him what's really valuable in his eyes. It's your love that he really values.
Yes, your love, not someone else's love, not your spouse's love, not your children's love, not the prayer group's love,
not your friend's love, not someone else's love, not some priest or nun or saint's love. Well, of course,
Jesus values all those too, right? He does value those, of course, but he really values your love especially.
As hard as that might be to believe for some people, for some of us. When you learn to do that, when you learn to take to heart
God's love and then learn to love him in return, then you become more like the beloved disciple who wrote that gospel.
You begin to see yourself as God sees you. You begin to see yourself as the one whom Jesus also loves too.
So if you struggle in life with not feeling love, Jesus wants you to come to him. He died for you on Good Friday.
He rose from the dead for you today, Easter Sunday, this Easter octave. He's still thirsting for that one thing that only you can give him.
And I tend to think that if Catholics really learn to interiorize God's love, really learn to take it to heart like Mary Magdalene did,
like St. John the Evangelist did, there would be no non-Catholics in the world. The whole world would be Catholic, faithfully Catholic, authentically Catholic.
So let's ask Our Lady today for the grace to take the love of her risen Son to heart.
Let's not forget that one of the reasons that St. John calls himself the beloved disciple or the disciple whom Jesus loves,
one of the big reasons is because Jesus entrusted his mother to him.
You know that you're loved when someone gives you the greatest gift that they can possibly give you.
Not only dying for you, not only giving you himself in the sacraments, but also giving you his precious mother as well.
And the good news is, she's your precious mother too. That's great news for all of us.
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.