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JMJ
"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to his disciples,'Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.' And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them,'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here and watch with me.' And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt.' And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter,'So, could you not watch with me one hour?' (Mt 26:36-40)
An account is related about St. Jerome, in which he had a vision of Christ asking the erudite scholar who he was. When Jerome replied that he was a Christian, the Lord tersely responded that Jerome was not a Christian, but rather a Ciceronian. Sobered by this denunciation, Jerome wholeheartedly poured himself into knowing, loving and serving his Master above all else.
Reflecting on this story should give one pause to ponder what the Lord's answer might be to him. One's love should define his life: informing his decisions and dictating how his time is spent. When a person first discovers his true love , he reorders his entire life so that he can maximize his time with his beloved. He devours every moment, delighting in all the knowledge he can gain about his love. He thinks nought of wasting time on frivolous pursuits and spurns anything that will separate him from his dear one. Occupations that were once deemed indispensable may not be cast aside but are now viewed with indifference and detachment.
Upon possession of the beloved a person feels jubilant and secure but contentment can lead to complacency; the brilliance of the beloved is not lost, rather the desire of the lover is slowly tempered. However, this realization is not immediately apparent because the lover has not overtly betrayed his cherished one. His attachments do not appear to separate him, yet his mere occupation with inane activities serve to question the strength of his devotion. Though he may wistfully yearn for blissful rest with the other, in reality he refuses to relinquish employments or ingrained habits that deny him the opportunity to be fully present to his heart's desire. Wonder and awe are replaced by familiarity and tepidity. Moments are wasted rather than seized so that a person may echo one of the characters in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters: "I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought or what I liked."
Love should not be a relationship that is maintained like a machine, having occasional inspections to ensure reliability. Instead, it should resemble a garden that must be cultivated, but weeded, sown but also pruned. And yet, like a garden that has been forgotten, love can still be renewed by the conscious and determined discipline of daily labors that will unearth the hidden beauties that lie beneath its neglect. The beloved waits to be adorned again with attention and veneration. The faithful friend waits for his kindred spirit; the adoring child waits for his tender parents; the steadfast spouse waits for his life's companion; the Beloved waits in the Sacrament of Divine Love.
