There is no greater LOVE than this...

...that one should lay down his life for his friend

What a simple statement with such a profound meaning...
It calls not only for self-denial, but also for self-sacrifice...

The 3 Greek words, Eros, Phillia, and Agape, all translate into only 1 word in the English, Love.
It is precisely in these 3 Greek words that we sense the profundity, the depth and richness that is expressed by simple word "Love".

Yes, Love can sometimes be expressed in the erotic form of intercourse, or in the filial form, as we love our parents and as our parents love us.

Love can also be expressed in the brotherly form, the bond that we sense between our friends, our neighbours, and even among people we do not know.

But the above statement, shows us that despite the immensity and propensity of those kinds of love, they are all but stepping stones that lead to the greatest love of all, the self-sacrificial love for others.

It is not enough to love ourselves. Neither is it enough to love others as we love ouselves. The greatest love is not symbiotic, neither is it individualistic.

Yes, it is hard to achieve this level of Love. It requires first the mastering of love for self, and then love for others, before being able to even sniff the air of this love where we must decrease, and the other has to increase.

But we should never be discouraged, because God IS Love: and through Him we have an example to follow, for God so loved the world that He gave us his only Son; and with Him, we are able to give this love; and in Him we have a reward for achieving this Love, eternal life.

And so, I end with this exhortation:

Caritas patiens est benigna est
Caritas non aemulatur non agit perperam non inflatur
non est ambitiosa non quaerit quae sua sunt
non inritatur non cogitat malum
non gaudet super iniquitatem congaudet autem veritati
omnia suffert omnia credit omnia sperat omnia sustinet.

Amen.

p.s. I have no idea how I just conjured up a whole sermon based on this one sentence... It struck me at mass today and I was only planning to jot down this sentence but things do happen...