The Risk of Real Love

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There’s a kind of love that costs us nothing. The kind where we stay polite, stay comfortable, stay safe. We say, “I care about you,” but we never let that love inconvenience us. We never let it interrupt our schedule, challenge our ego, or expose our hearts. And then there’s the kind of love Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel. “Love one another as I have loved you.”

That sounds beautiful until we remember how Jesus loved. Jesus loved with sleepless nights, with patience toward weak people, with forgiveness toward betrayers, with mercy toward sinners, with tears at gravesides, with sweat in Gethsemane, and ultimately with a Cross.

Jesus says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” And I think sometimes we hear that and imagine “literally being killed for someone”. We think of dying for someone in one heroic moment. But most of us are not called to die for someone tomorrow. We are called to lay down our lives today. And honestly? That can be harder. Because laying down your life might mean: listening when you’re tired, forgiving when your pride is wounded, staying faithful when feelings disappear, being patient with your family, loving someone who may never thank you back.

And here’s what’s fascinating in this Gospel: Jesus does not call us servants anymore. He calls us friends. Think about that. The God who created the entire world looks at ordinary people like us and says, “I want friendship with you.” Not because we earned it. Not because we are impressive. But because love always moves outward. And true friendship changes us. You become like the people you spend time with. If you spend time around angry people, you become angry. Around funny people, funny. Around holy people, you become holy.

So what happens when we actually spend time with Jesus? Slowly, His heart becomes our heart. And that is the goal of Christianity – not just being “nice people,” but becoming people who love the way Christ loves. That’s why Jesus says, “I chose you.” He didn’t just choose you to believe in Him. He chose you to bear fruit. To become the kind of person whose life makes other people encounter God. The world does not need more Christians who know Catholic vocabulary. The world needs Christians whose love is so real, so patient, so joyful, so sacrificial that people become curious about Jesus.

Because here’s the truth: everybody wants to be loved, but very few people choose the vulnerability required to truly love others. Jesus did. And He asks us to do the same.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You did not love me from a distance. You entered my mess, my weakness, my wounds, and stayed. Teach me to love like that. Break my selfishness, my fear, and my comfort. Make my life a reflection of Your heart so that through the way I love, someone else may finally believe they are loved by God too. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko