With Cupid having flown by on Valentine’s Day, I’ve been reflecting on love through the prism of my Christian faith. I began by contemplating love as both a noun and an action. Jesus’ life on Earth was an example of a grand, actionable love. During Jesus’ ministry on Earth, he demonstrated this love in his service to others and repentance of sin. He calls his disciples to an actionable love of service. Reflecting on Jesus’ life in view of his call to “love one another,” I’ve found that displaying the large love of God can be done in both big actions and small everyday ways.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus demonstrates servant leadership by washing his disciples’ feet. Culturally, this was a big action, as the act was typically reserved for low-status servants. Jesus, as God’s incarnate, demonstrated humility and love for his followers in this action that would be brought to completion in his death on the cross. Jesuit institutions, such as St. Joe’s, encourage service as a way to continue Ignatian traditions inspired by faith through institutionalized programming.  

In following Christ and reflecting on this love, I’ve learned it does not always have to be formalized through service, though those ways are still valuable. Loving my neighbor can come in everyday ways. Sometimes, for me, it’s paying a compliment, or it’s intentionally caring for the well-being of others around me. It can come in the form of working hard at my responsibilities so that those who benefit from them will reap their fruits, or maybe it’s simply buying my friend a snack. The love of God is a noun in its reality, but it is also a verb. Jesus’ life and death for the world’s sins was the portrayal of that action. I’ve found that I can reflect this verb that Jesus portrayed in ways both big and small.