20260108 THE MEASURE OF LOVE
08 January 2026, Thursday After Epiphany Sunday
First reading | 1 John 4:19-5:4 |
Anyone who loves God must also love his brother
We are to love,
because God loved us first.
Anyone who says, ‘I love God’,
and hates his brother,
is a liar,
since a man who does not love the brother that he can see
cannot love God, whom he has never seen.
So this is the commandment that he has given us,
that anyone who loves God must also love his brother.
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
has been begotten by God;
and whoever loves the Father that begot him
loves the child whom he begets.
We can be sure that we love God’s children
if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us;
this is what loving God is –
keeping his commandments;
and his commandments are not difficult,
because anyone who has been begotten by God
has already overcome the world;
this is the victory over the world –
our faith.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 71(72):1-2,14-15,17 |
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
and your poor in right judgement.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
From oppression he will rescue their lives,
to him their blood is dear.
(Long may he live,
may the gold of Sheba be given him.)
They shall pray for him without ceasing
and bless him all the day.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
May his name be blessed for ever
and endure like the sun.
Every tribe shall be blessed in him,
all nations bless his name.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk7:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk4:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt4:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The people that lived in darkness
has seen a great light;
on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Mt4:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of diseases among the people.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.1Tim3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to you, O Christ,
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 4:14-22 |
'This text is being fulfilled today, even as you listen'
Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.
He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.
He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.
THE MEASURE OF LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 4:19-5:4; PS 72:1-2,14-15,17; LUKE 4:14-22]
How do we know how much we love God? The measure of our love for God is not how much or how long we pray. It is not how many Masses we have celebrated or how many devotions we have practised. It is certainly not dependent on how much theological knowledge we have about God. Rather, it is shown in how much we love our brothers and sisters, especially those who are poor and underprivileged. This is what St John wrote, “Anyone who says, ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen.”
The love of God is seen concretely and measured by our love for our brothers and sisters. St John wrote, “this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world – our faith.” What is this faith that helps us overcome the ways of the world, such as selfishness and individualism? It is our faith in Christ as the Son of God, expressed in love of our neighbours. Faith in God is not an intellectual idea or an emotional feeling. As St James wrote, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (Jms 2:14-17)
Why is the love of God measured by our love for our neighbours? In the first place, our capacity to love comes from having first experienced the love of God. Earlier, St John wrote, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 Jn 4:10-12) We cannot love unless the love of God is in us. St John clearly teaches that our capacity to love comes from God Himself. “We are to love, then, because God loved us first.” It is the experience of God’s love for us that empowers us to love others in the same way that He has loved us. This love is manifested in the birth of our Lord, in His life, passion, death, and resurrection. This truth led St Paul to remark, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.” (2 Cor 5:13-15)
Secondly, we know God’s love is in us when we love those whom He loves. “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the father that begot him loves the child whom he begets.” There is a close link between the love of the Father and the Son. Whoever loves the Father will also love the Son whom the Father loves. Even in daily life, we naturally introduce our friends to those who are dear to us, and very soon they too become friends. It is natural for us to love those whom our loved ones love. Conversely, children get very hurt when their friends are rejected by their parents; to reject their friends is, in a sense, to reject them. Sons and daughters also desire their parents to accept their girlfriends or boyfriends. Parental approval of what they do and whom they love is important to them because they love their parents and do not wish to cause them sadness. Truly, love leads us to identify with our beloved. When we love someone, we feel with them and share in their joys and their struggles. If this is true in human relationships, it is also true of our relationship with God. If we love the Father, then we must love His Son, Jesus Christ. If we love Jesus, we must also love all those whom He and the Father love – especially the poor and the suffering.
We see this faith and love in action in today’s Gospel through the ministry of Jesus. After His baptism, Jesus was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit, where He overcame the temptations of the Evil One. He then returned to Galilee “with the power of the Spirit in him… and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.” Jesus was filled with the Spirit of love that He had received from the Father. Jesus was clear that His mission was to fulfil the plan of His Father for humanity; to bring all of us into one family of love, worshipping Him alone as the Father of all.
Jesus was one with the Father in love. This is what is meant when the author writes that He was filled with the Holy Spirit. In truth, Jesus’ coming into the world is the consequence of His self-emptying for His Father. He is of the same mind and will with the Father. John’s Gospel makes this clear when Jesus said, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me. I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence.” (Jn 14:30f) Jesus was ready to undergo His passion because He loved the Father. Loving the Father means loving us all, because, as St John writes, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
Filled with the Spirit of the Father’s love, compassion, and mercy for humanity, Jesus took upon Himself the messianic prophecy of Isaiah, which read, “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” Jesus was clear and convinced that His ministry was to make visible the reality of God’s love and mercy to the poor – both the materially poor and those who are poor in spirit. His mission was to set people free from their sins of selfishness, anger, and resentment. He came to offer forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. The oppression of humanity today does not come from just external forces; many of us are also under the bondage of sin – a lack of freedom to choose life and love because of societal pressures. Jesus came to give us hope and a new vision of life. That was why He could confidently say, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.”
Consequently, if we want to find the capacity to love as God loves, we need to have faith in Jesus as the gift of God’s love in person. The truth is that the capacity – or power – to love cannot be separated from God Himself. God does not give us the power to love apart from His love for us. It is His presence and love for us that empowers us to love in the same way. Love is what motivates and enables us to love others. It is always life-giving, flowing from God to us and through us to others. To be loved and to love are complementary; the gift of love cannot be separated from the giver. This is why the Holy Spirt is divine – because He is the gift of God’s love in person. As the gift, He is also the giver of gifts, empowering us to love as God loves.
Further, by contemplating on God’s love for us, unworthy as we are, we too are empowered to love others as He has loved us. If we are deeply in love with Jesus, who is present with us in the incarnation, then we too will naturally love everyone as much as Jesus loves them. In the Gospel, Jesus shows a preferential option for the poor. In the parable of the Last Judgement, the Lord says, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40) With Jesus, we come to see others as our brothers and sisters, but only through His eyes. This is why St Teresa of Calcutta and many religious congregations emphasise that their members spend time in adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist before beginning their active apostolate. It is from the Lord that we receive inspiration and strength to carry out the work of love.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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