Remain rooted and grounded in love

 

In St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Paul asks his readers to understand God’s plan of salvation in Christ and to recognize that this plan very much includes the Gentiles.  By referencing “the breath and length and height and depth,” Paul asserts that God’s love in Christ is boundless, affecting the entirety of the universe and beyond. In essence, all that’s required is that we remain “rooted and grounded in love;” that we not experience diminished hope for salvation (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Paul’s epistle should give us a boost of confidence; to encourage us to always be present to the redemptive love of Christ which at all times should warm us like a warm coat against the cold.  This is, Paul reminds us, God’s plan.  And it includes all of us, not only those who live here and now, but those who are to come after us.

Each day we should remind ourselves of the immense power of God’s love for us.  Despite all that we encounter we can and should seek solace in His love and in His plan for our salvation.  It certainly isn’t easy, given the variety of things we need to attend to every day and given the rise and fall of our emotions.  But we have to remain rooted and grounded in love and make the effort to comprehend and embrace the infinite power of God’s love.

In contrast to this unifying theme of Christ’s love, the gospel of Luke provides a challenging—even disturbing—truth.  Jesus speaks of division, strife, and disunity which He also brings to the world.  That conflict comes even within earthly families, which are supposed to be places where we find love and acceptance (Luke 12:49-53).

At one level, we can understand this teaching as another warning to the disciples that He wouldn’t be establishing an earthly political kingdom.  Jesus would accomplish something much greater, not through armies and political power, but through self-denying love, in laying down his own life for his friends. Thankfully, we can be included among that friendship group.

What it also teaches us is that the call of God causes conflict.  The peace we look forward to, which comes only in the fullness of the reign of God, isn’t yet here.  Following Christ may cause us to reject contrary teachings and practices that are commonly followed, which can cause problems with others who don’t know those ways and who may feel convicted by a dissenting example.   Division or conflict might then occur between believers and unbelievers.  However, it may also occur within the church, which admittedly is not as unified as it should be, in part because we’re not all rooted and grounded in the love of Christ as we should be.  As an example, one need only to follow “Catholic Twitter” accounts or other “Catholic” social media.  There’s enough division between “Traditional” Catholics and “Liberal” Catholics to make even Jesus weep. 

Both of these groups seem to have forgotten that St. Paul also reminds us that love is patient and kind (1 Corinthians:13).  Just as God has been patient with us, we need to exercise a similar patience toward those with whom we have divisions and conflicts.  When we’re “rooted and grounded in love,” so that we may be “filled with all the fullness of God”, we tend not to be so full of ourselves.  From my own experience, that helps a lot in breaking down divisions.