Joke: Little Tommy was so impressed by his oldest sister’s wedding that he announced, “I want to have a wedding just like Linda had.” “That sounds great,” said his father. “But whom will you marry?” Tommy announced: “I want to marry grandma because she loves me and I love her.” “You can’t marry grandma,” his father said. “Why not?” Tommy protested. “because she is my mother.” “Well,” reasoned Tommy. “Then why did you marry my mother?” Love. What is love?

Today’s Gospel, under the pen of John, so beautifully teaches us to repeat the words of Jesus saying to God the Father before he left his disciples to come to God the Father, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.” Why did he pray to God the Father to protect his disciples from the evil ones? What causes someone to become evil? Is evil one real? What causes someone to become evil might be what not true love is. What is true love? How do we know it’s true love?

Today’s second reading, taken from the first book of John, teaches us, “If God so loved us, we also must love one another.” He continues to say, “If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” So, what is love? Saint John says, “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” What does it mean to love one another? Don’t we already do that when we say we love our parents, we love our siblings, we love our friends, our co-workers, and even a stranger? So, what does it mean to love one another to have the Lord remain in us? What is true love?

According to Ancient Greek, there are four types of love: Eros, Storge, Phileo, and Agape.

What is eros love? Eros is a passionate and intense love that arouses romantic feelings; it is the kind that often triggers “high” feelings in a new relationship and makes us say, “I love him/her”. It is simply emotional and sexual love. Therefore, true love is God, but not this kind of eros love.

Phileo love refers to an affectionate, warm, and tender platonic love. It makes one desire friendship with someone. It’s a committed and chosen love. This type of love is better than eros love, but it’s still not true love.

Storge love is a kind of family and friendship love. It’s committed, and sacrificial, and makes you feel secure, comfortable, and safe. It is a conditioned love, but it’s still not true love.

Agape love is an unconditional love that sees beyond the outer surface and accepts the recipient for who he or she is, regardless of their flaws, shortcomings, or faults. The keyword for this kind of love is unconditional love. The unconditional love that God reveals to us through His beloved Son Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself on the cross for the sake of our salvation. Therefore, to remain in God’s love, Jesus invites us to keep his commandments that John remembers and reports in today’s Gospel saying, “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.”

Not only the love that we will experience through the virtues of our baptism when we follow God’s commandments but also the joy that we receive through the Lord Jesus Christ himself when he says to his disciples, reported in today’s Gospel, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.” In other words, when we keep God’s commandments, we will remain in his love and experience joy, complete joy.

Right after explaining the love and the joy, Jesus begins to say to his disciples, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” He explains what is love and joy before he makes it to the commandment. He lets this love and joy enter into a friendship saying, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Following his commandments not only helps us remain in his love but also allows us to be his friends. When we enter into his friendship, he allows us to call God, “Abba” Father and allows us to have a direct line to call on his Father when he says, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” Whatever, even when we are not worthy.

So, through the virtues of our baptism to be priest, prophet, and king, we are invited to follow God’s commandments to remain in his love and our joy might be completed. Our baptism is not finished after we are baptized into the water with the Holy Trinity form, but rather, it is the beginning of learning, observing, and following God’s commandments. Also, by observing and following his commandments, we can build up a friendship with him and be able to call on God the Father in our needs.

God loves us with unconditional love, the agape love, how do we respond to his love? Love one another as he has loved us, does it mean we are invited to love one another with unconditional love? Love might be an easy word to say on our lips, but it might be difficult to live with the true meaning of love. What should we do and how should we do when we have difficulty forgiving or forgetting someone when he or she hurts us somehow? Look upon the crucifix when we experience difficulty in forgiving or forgetting someone who hurts us. Only in the crucifix, one can experience wisdom and strength to live in God’s love, the agape love, the unconditional love, with complete joy. The decision is yours.