No showing off if love is pure

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S what we can get from the gospel story about the two sisters, Martha and Mary. (cfr. Lk 10,38-42) If love is pure, we would not show off the things we do, baiting for praises; we would not compare ourselves with others to see if we are better lovers; we would just give and give without counting the cost; we would give our whole heart unconditionally to our beloved who in the end is God!

The problem with Martha was precisely that of comparing her love with what she saw was the inferior kind of love her sister, Mary, showed to Christ. It’s a phenomenon that, sad to say, is very common since time immemorial, and especially these days when the hunger for recognition seems to be sharper among many people in general.

Many people today like to flaunt the good things they do. They like to compare themselves with others. They even go to the extent of indulging in virtue signalling their own deeds while gaslighting those whom they consider to be not as good as they are.

To have pure love, we have to start with the purity of our intentions, since they express who and where in the end we want to be. Do we choose to be with God completely, or do we play games trying to do things for others when fact things are done more for ourselves?

We need to realize then that we have to take utmost care of our intention, making it as explicit as possible, and honing it to get engaged with its proper and ultimate object who is God.

We should try our best to shun being simply casual or cavalier about this responsibility. We can easily play around with it, since intentions are almost invariably hidden from public knowledge. We are urged to be most sincere in directing our intentions properly.

We can easily fall into hypocrisy and deception, doing what can appear good externally but is not internally, since we could refuse giving glory to God, which is the proper intention to have, and instead feed and stir our vanity, pride, greed, lust, etc.

If our love is pure, we would do a lot of good while passing unnoticed. All the glory should belong to God. We have to rid ourselves of any signs that would show that we want to divert the glory, even if only partially, to ourselves.

We are reminded of this danger when Christ said, “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.” (Mt 6,1)

And he continued by saying, “When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.” (6,2)

As we can see, the intention of our human acts plays a crucial role. With it, we can determine whether we are truly good and moral, or are simply playing around, playing the game of hypocrisy, appearing righteous when we truly are not.

We know that with our intention, we can direct our acts to God, following what was once indicated by St. Paul, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31) That’s how our acts become good, or moral, an expression of pure love. Otherwise, they are bad, or at least dangerous.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com