In John15:9-17, we hear of Jesus talking about His Father’s love. The love He was talking about here is the word AGAPE. CS Lewis tells us there are four kinds of love.

The first love is: Eros…a physical love, young love, Romeo and Juliet, kind of love.

The second kind of love is: Philia…is friendship, This is a kind of love that is needed in life. Friends. A best friend a causal friend, a neighbor, we all need Friends. This is a love where both parties are mutually involved. The two parties must be honest, and have a level of closeness and trust. People are blessed when they can say, “I married my best friend.” And that friendship takes work and commitment.  

The third love is: Prautes:…a gentleness, a softness, a meekness, like in the Bible, “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” For this love to happen the person needs to be warm, caring, modest, humble, and put others before one’s self. Knowing what God wants our actions to be and submit to them.

And finally: Agape…this is the love Reverend Martin Luther King spoke about Agape love. Martin Luther King was at the very core of both his spiritual and his belief that agape love was essential to solving America’s race problems. He defined agape as “purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It is the love of God operating in the human heart.” God simply loves each of us because He made us. God loves us just as we are.  We can love others just because they are made in the image of God and expect nothing in return. The Good Samaritan is a good example set before us.

To simply love we don’t have to obey rules, regulations, or commandments. Love is to be a way of life. It’s who we are and what we do and say and think. As Christians, our love needs to be unconditional. We have Jesus as our role model. He loved all He came in contact with and I bet that was not easy.

I wondered how will people remember me? I want to be remembered as an AGAPE lover. In the end, it will not be important how smart, how rich, how funny, what a hard worker, or any other attributes. Most importantly, I want people to say, “She was a lover.”

At the Health Care Facility where I shared Holy Communion today, we celebrated the Mass readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 1st, and the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker and May Day all rolled into one. It was a great celebration. I had to smile at how appropriate the readings were. God chose Joseph to be the earthly father of his son, Jesus Christ. Joseph lived with agape love in his soul and heart. Jesus learned everything he knew here on Earth from St, Joseph the Worker. He saw agape love in action. Bless Us St. Joseph the Worker.