Courageous Love

When I was about 18, before I started training for the Priesthood, I dated a girl called Olivia. We dated only for about three months. Olivia is from a very traditional Catholic family. In Nigeria, parents do not allow their kids who are under 20 to date. So Olivia and I dated secretly. But sooner than later, her parents and siblings found out. They found out because she mistakenly left the Valentine card I made for her on her reading table.  One of her siblings found it and reported her to mom and dad. Before this incident, Olivia and I were study partner. We were preparing for an examination. So, I lend her one of my books. For some reasons she stopped coming to the library where she and I used to study. There was no cell phone at the time. So I decided to pay her a visit so I could have my book back. When I got to the house and asked to see her, her whole family came out to finally meet this guy who was trying to corrupt Olivia. The looks I got from them was very terrifying. They were like is this the Clement? They spoke in their language and the only thing I could understand was those times they mentioned my name. I was so embarrassed. Well because of the pressure from her parents and older siblings, Olivia and I decided to end the relationship. We lacked the courage to nurture our beautiful relationship.

In our first reading today, we heard about the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments is the sign of God’s love for us. And by keeping the Ten Commandments, we too demonstrate our love for God. But love takes courage. Without courage love is sentimental. We need courage to live faithful to our vowed commitments. Courage therefore is an unwavering commitment to God or a proper course of action, and it shows itself in moral strength, determination, patient endurance, long suffering, a resolute spirit, stamina and resiliency.

Often times, our personal weaknesses and the circumstances around us make it very tough for us to respond to God’s love. We may have love for God but if our love is not complemented with courage, it becomes very easy for us to give in to temptation and make compromises about our salvation.

Jesus shows us in today’s gospel how important it is to love with courage. He shows us how courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important than fear. Without courage, our love for God will be nothing but sentimentality. Some people’s love for God is just at the level of feelings or emotions or wishes or good intention. True love for God goes beyond those. True love for God is demonstrated in courageous acts that honors God in spite of every possible risk.

Lent is a time for us to train our love for God to grow into a courageous love. Without it, we may not be able to consistently do God’s will and run the race to heaven to the finish. When Peter denied Jesus during the trial, Peter did so not because he lacked faith but courage. Love without courage always lead to betrayal. If we find ourselves betraying God again and again, it is not a sign of lack of faith or love but of courage. Without courage we can’t practice any other virtue consistently.

We need courageous love to stand for the Savior in the face of an increasing hostile world. We need courage to enable us overcome all lukewarmness and discouragement. Courage not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval.

Some of us may be doing well in many respects in our relationship with God. But something inside us tells us there is something we are lacking. Perhaps what we are lacking in our relationship with God right now is courage. The courage to say no to a besetting or reoccurring sin. The courage to let go of a hurt. The courage to stop participating in gossip. The courage to spend quality time in prayer. The courage to choose the Church’s position on moral issues at the risk of losing our relationship with our kids and friends. The courage to be chaste even when temptations are all around us. The courage to endure inevitable suffering. The courage to trust God even when we don’t understand His plan. The courage to bear the loss of a loved one. The courage to overcome our fears. The courage to keep doing good. The courage to love those who do not love us. The courage to love those we do not like. The courage to forgive those who have wronged us. The courage to tell the truth at all times. The courage to not give in to peer pressure to abuse alcohol and drugs or view pornography in the internet. The courage to go to confession. The courage to say “I am sorry” to those we have hurt. The courage to take up that spiritual discipline we have been putting off for a while now. The courage to join that spiritual group in the parish we have been invited to. Where do you think you need the virtue or gift of courage in your life? Lent is a time to pray for this gift or cultivate this virtue. Lent is the time to take advantage of every opportunity to practice this virtue in small and big things.

So today, I invite us to ask the Holy Spirit to give us the gift of courage. Or let us ask Him to revive the presence of the gift of courage in us. Let the focus of our prayer this week be on receiving and reviving the Holy Spirit’s gift of courage. And it will not be out of place to do the novena to the Holy Spirit during the remaining part of Lent to particularly ask for this gift. And by the grace of my ordination I bless you and invoke the Spirit’s gift of courage upon your life in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!