Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / 1 John 4:7-10 / John 15:9-17
The game of tennis is a quite popular game. People follow the game, watch the game on tv (which can last for a few hours) and of course some play the game.
But tennis is certainly more than just a play-play kind of game.
Because top professional tennis players can become millionaires, and the top names are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, etc.
And these top players play in top tournaments like Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, etc.
But for all the big names and the big money, the game of tennis is actually quite a simple game. All you have to do is to hit the ball back into your opponent’s court. That’s all you need to do to win the game. It’s as simple as that; but it requires a lot of skill to do that.
And you know what it is said about life and tennis? Life is like a game of tennis. The player who can hit every ball across seldom loses.
So the simple logic about tennis is that when the ball comes to you, you don’t keep the ball. You always return the ball, so to speak.
And that is also the simple logic about life and love. In life whenever love comes to us, we don’t keep it for ourselves. We have to return it. So in a way, life is like a game of tennis – we return the love, just as we return the ball.
And that is what Jesus is telling us in the gospel – As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
For Jesus, love is not for keeps. The love that He received from His Father, He gives to us.
And the love we receive from Jesus, we in turn must give to others.
And Jesus even makes a commandant out of it – Love one another as I have loved you.
In other words, as Jesus has loved us, so must we love one another.
It’s a commandment; it’s not a suggestion, nor is it an option.
We often hear of this phrase “love offering”. It is often written on boxes in church events and it is a way of asking for donations to offset the cost of holding the events.
It gives us the notion that we can give whatever we wish and we are not obliged to give a large sum nor are we required to give all we have.
But for God, when it comes to a love offering, it is nothing less than all.
As we heard in the 2nd reading, God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world His only Son so that we can have life through Him.
So it is not our love for God, but God’s love for us when He sent His only Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
Yes, love is a sacrifice, and a love offering is a total offering because God’s love for us is a total sacrifice.
Today we also celebrate Mother’s Day and in so many ways we see how our mothers’ love is like a total sacrifice.
In their love for us, we see how God has loved us.
There are many inspiring and heart-warming stories about how mothers love their children with a total sacrifice.
There is this story of a mother’s love for her son, but it’s a rather sad and it is narrated by the son, and it goes like this.
My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers in school to support the family.
There was this one day during primary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.
How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “EEEE, your mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, “If you’re only going make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?”
My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study.
Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”
And to this, my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.” – and she disappeared out of sight.
Then one day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house, and after much thought, I decided to go for that reunion.
After the reunion, I went to the old shack where my mother lived, just out of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died a few days ago. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
“My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children.
I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
With all my love to you,
Your mother.” (Author Unknown)
A rather sad story for Mother’s day but it serves to remind us not to take our mothers’ love for granted.
And that would also remind us not to take God’s love for granted.
God’s love for us is seen in how our mothers give their love to us.
And that love is not meant for us to keep. Just as in the game of tennis, we don’t keep the ball; we return it.
Let us love our mothers, let us love God, let us also love others.
It’s a commandment; not a suggestion, nor an option.