Commentary on the Gospel of
Fire of First Love
Of Gods and Men is a Grand Prix winning French movie that narrates the true story of the murder of seven French Trappist monks (now beatified) in Algeria in 1996. In one charming scene, a village girl asks Brother Luke if he was ever in love. Luke responds: “Yes, several times… And then I met another love even greater, and I answered that love.” With a little pause he adds: “It has been a while now, over sixty years.” We can all relate to that in our love of God. Think of the time when you first fell in love with God. For some, it was all of a sudden; for others, a gradual awakening of love. But now, years, even decades, have passed. How has that fire been? “You have lost your first love,” so the Lord complaints against the Church in Ephesus. How about us? Has the fire faded out in the everyday struggles and boredom of our life? What can we do to recover that first love?
