Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / 1 John 4:7-10 / John 15:9-17
Human beings stand at the apex, at the top, of creation, as the most intelligent, most resourceful and most creative species in the world.
Given all those attributes, human beings would and should make this world a more beautiful and better place to live in.
But as it is said, with great power comes even greater responsibility, and this is where humanity has flawed and fell short.
There can be no doubt that the abuse of creation and creatures, the wars and violence, the poverty and the human tragedy, are because of the irresponsibility of humanity.
But all these big issues have small beginnings like selfishness and greed. Practically speaking, all problems begin when we take things for granted.
We take fresh air, clean water, sunshine and rain for granted. We take food and shelter and even health for granted.
We not only take things for granted, we take people for granted. We use people for our advantage and get them to do things for us.
We even take those who love us for granted. Who can ever say that they have never been disobedient or defied their parents and argued with them, especially with our mothers.
So, in short, we take love for granted and when love is taken for granted, then anything and anyone can be taken for granted.
But today's readings tell us not to take love for granted. If we bother to count the number of times the word “love” appears in the readings, it is 18 times, nine times in the 2nd reading, and nine times in the gospel.
And the 1st reading talks about the workings of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is the Lord of life and love.
We are reminded that God created us in love, we are to remain in God's love, we are to love God and to love one another.
God chose to love us and He commissioned us to go forth and bear fruits of love for others so that they will come to know who God is.
With God's love, we can make this world a beautiful place love will also make us better persons.
Even ordinary things, when seen with love, will tell us how much God loves us.
When we look at our mothers, we see that they are ordinary persons doing their best to take care of us.
But when we think deeper about them, we can see that there are two words that will describe them best: tough and tender.
They know how to be tough with us, especially when we try to argue or defy them, but that's the way mothers show their tender love.
For example, when we fall sick with cough or flu, they will nag and tell us that it is because we drink cold water and gassy drinks that we eat too much fried food and that we don't change our shirts when they are soaking with perspiration.
But the objective is to make us more afraid of their incessant nagging and lectures so much so that we'd rather not fall sick.
And when they look at our clothes and say “Are you going to wear that to go out?” they are actually teaching us that we dress respectfully for others and not just wear whatever we like.
And when we go to the kitchen and we ask if she needed help, she will say “No”. Then 10 minutes later, she will say that no one helps out in the house (?!?).
But the lesson she is teaching us is that we should not take what people say at face value. Our mothers were testing us in our sincerity in offering help.
Yes, our mothers are ordinary persons but when it comes to loving us, they are tough and they are also tender.
In our mothers, we see how the commandment of love takes on flesh and blood.
Our mothers have taught us how to love, so that we in turn can teach our children how to love.
When we love God and love others as how our mothers love us, this world will indeed be a beautiful place.