Do you love God because you need Him? Or do you need Him because you love Him? - Daily Reflections February 14,2014

I LOVE YOU... EPHPHATHA!

 

It is Valentine’s Day! Let us allow ourselves to love again, not just because it is February 14 but because, as Christians, we are called to say yes to love every single day.

       I remember my English teacher in high school asking us the difference between “I love you because I need you” and “I need you because I love you.” Of course, I am confident you know the difference and you agree that it is better to be needed for love than to be loved because of a need, right?

       But sometimes, the more we are told about this simple truth, the more we turn away from it. We become so consumed by our needs that we become deaf and mute to love. But when Jesus commanded in the Gospel, “Ephphatha!” (Be opened!), and instantly healed a deaf man with a speech impediment, He was talking about a different kind of need. He knew that the man needed to be loved and be made well because of his faith. And since he wanted it so much, his sight and speech were restored. This is the kind of need that must be reciprocated with love.

       Jesus spat and touched his tongue. It’s like He was telling the man, “I love you. Allow me to be a part of you.” And this is where healing starts: when your life is intertwined with Jesus.

       But there is also a kind of need that cripples. These are those whose lives had been defined by what they were and not by what they can still become. They ask for help but would not move on. The next day, you find them standing exactly where you left them, again asking for help. They bask in the attention you are giving and they drain your energy out of you.

       Unlike the deaf and mute man in the Gospel today, who moved on and proclaimed Jesus’ gift of healing for him, some people never let go of their needs, so we must learn to “un-love” their needs and decide that the best way to help them is by not helping them at all. Otherwise, we make them more “in need” than they really should be. And this you do because you love. Happy Valentine’s Day! Fr. Erick Y. Santos, OFS

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you love God because you need Him? Or do you need Him because you love Him?

 

Lord Jesus, heal my tongue that I may speak only of Your love.