This morning’s Gospel reading is Matthew 3:13–17:
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
What is the nature of love?
I have written many times about this question in previous reflections; perhaps some readers could provide chapter and verse, so to speak. The nature of the Gospels and the scriptures requires us to grasp the distinctions of love, perhaps in today’s readings more than others. Our language, as rich as it otherwise is, remains remarkably limited in recognizing those distinctions. We can love a spouse, love a child, but we can also love a pet, pizza, a social-media meme, and so on.
Love as a term is remarkably elastic in English. That doesn’t make it meaningless; the context in which we use it gives it definition. We clearly mean one definition of love when talking about a spouse, and another entirely when we talk about a sibling, a friend, or a pet. All of these contexts have real meaning, too – clear and significant emotional connections.
When we aspire to love in the biblical sense, especially in grasping the love of God for us, that has a particular meaning. The Greeks had different words for different forms of love:
- Eros: Romantic love and sexual desire
- Ludus: Playful sexual attraction, romance
- Philia: Deep friendship
- Storge: Familial love (parent-child, sibling-sibling)
- Philautia: Self-love, in both positive and negative senses
- Pragma: Enduring love in committed relationships
- Agape: Selfless love, called caritas in Latin, the root word for ‘charity’
All of these play a role in human life, most of them positive, but only agape embraces the love of God for us and the love to which we are called for one another as well as for the Lord.
Our second reading today from Acts marks a critical point for the nascent Church as well as for our understanding of Jesus’ mission. In Acts 10, a Roman centurion named Cornelius receives a vision after acts of charity and faith in Caesaria, directing him to seek out Peter. In those days, the temple authorities considered it a violation of the Law for Jewish men to meet with Gentiles, a point that Peter makes when first meeting Cornelius, but only after receiving a vision himself that all of these distinctions had been rendered moot in the new Covenant (Acts 10:9-16).
It is that revelation that Cornelius’ visit is intended to reveal, and the reason why the Holy Spirit brought the two men together. Peter declares that the Lord wants “no partiality” in the new Church, and that all creation has been blessed by Him:
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
This brings us to the nature of love. With the exception of agape, all forms of love are based on partiality, even in their most benign and positive natures. Eros and ludus are all about partiality in finding a romantic partner to the exclusion of all others. Philia is less exclusive but still focuses on a few close relationships. Storge and pragma are also exclusive to family life. Philautia is the most exclusive of all, which may be necessary to some extent for rational self-esteem and a sense of identity, but which has the obvious peril of falling into vanity, pride, and narcissism.
Only agape approaches love without partiality. Only agape puts the stranger on the same level as the friend or the family member in terms of concern and support. Only agape can explain why the Lord loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cross as full and final expiation for our sins, so that we may return to Him in joy and love.
These natures of love are not exclusive, either. We may pass through some or all of them in our relationships with others, but the Lord calls us to agape eventually in all of them. That is especially true in marriage, our model for the covenant between the Lord and His people, wherever they may be, but also in our families, friendships, and communities. To the extent that we evangelize, only agape can succeed in converting people through the Gospels.
The early Apostles knew this. They all martyred themselves in the first wave of the Great Commission, establishing churches in hostile lands, trying to bring strangers eternal life through Christ. The Great Commission itself, given by the risen Jesus at His Ascension, founded His Church on agape and impartiality in His call to “make disciples of all nations.”
Love shows no partiality. The new covenant seeks to convert all, and to transcend all divisions through the power of agape. And the Lord calls each of us to that level of love through our own baptisms, and the power of the Holy Spirit can bring us all to it just as it did Cornelius and Peter – if we let Him into our own hearts with that same sense of agape love.
Previous reflections on these readings:
The front page image is Dove of the Holy Spirit by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, c. 1660, in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. From my own collection.
“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature that looks at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections can be found here.
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