PREFACE
One in love knows that the person loved always lingers in thoughts, dreams, fantasies, and conversations. Everything turns tedious, boring, and monotonous when she is not present. She becomes the only one the lover seeks everywhere. It seems impossible to love without being loved in return.
To believe in Christ means to fall in love with him. It is to discover that his love for us has always existed and never fails us. He does not abandon us in difficult times, even when our love ‘thins down.’
People could remain friends, sympathizers, and admirers of Jesus of Nazareth. They could limit themselves to considering him the first of the sages, the holiest among people, and the most righteous among the righteous. However, this is just not enough. Falling in love is a tall order: it is to let oneself be involved in his dreams and share his choices, abandoning oneself in his arms, believing his promises, and putting in him all the hopes and expectations.
"I know in whom I have believed"—Paul writes to his friend Timothy (2 Tim 1:12). And he does not fear contradictions because he knows the One to whom he entrusts himself. Perhaps we are not yet in love with Christ; we are afraid to gamble our life on his proposal. We believe in the values that he provides. We say—yes—to a few things, but not to everything because the doubt haunts us, and fear grips us that we might lose.
We do not entirely trust him because we still do not know him.
Few Details Are Not Sufficient
When one falls in love, there is an irrepressible need to know everything about the person loved. One is not content with just knowing the name and age. One wants to know the other’s history, tastes, passions, beliefs, ideals, values, projects they have in mind, and their shadows.
We are perhaps convinced of knowing everything about Jesus. We remember that he was born in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth, that his parents were called Mary and Joseph, that he was a friend of the Magdalen and that he died on Calvary. We also remember some of his sayings and parables. That’s all.
We learned some catechism to be admitted to First Communion and Confirmation, where we also learned the bare essentials about Augustus Caesar and Charlemagne to pass the exam.
Bare minimum bookish knowledge is not enough for us to fall in love with Christ. The Baptist could repeat to us today: "Among you stands one whom you do not know" (Jn 1:26).
The Stage of This World
Jesus is at our side, but it is not easy to recognize him: "He has nothing attractive in his appearance, no beauty, no majesty” (Is 53:2). The images of the celebrities that fill the weekly magazines are much more appealing. The character to whom the prime-time television programs are dedicated is much more fascinating.
Seduced by appearances, dazzled by illusions, and by the lights of the deceptive limelight of this world, one happens—we know—to fall in love with the wrong person. Then the years pass, and when it's too late, one realizes of having stupidly lost one’s youth, the chance of a lifetime.
To each of us today, Jesus could say, as he did to Philip at the Last Supper: "I have been with you for a long time, and yet you do not know me" (Jn 14:9).
To Fall in Love
The Christian community in which we were born and brought up "has promised you to Christ, the only spouse, to present you to him as a pure virgin” (2 Cor 11:2). She wants to let us know him. She knows that if we discover his true face, we will remain seduced. For this, in a liturgical cycle of three years, she makes us contemplate him from four different perspectives.
In the year "A",’ Matthew is in charge of speaking to us about Jesus. He—the tax collector turned disciple (Mt 13:52)—presents to us the Christ with the sometimes-hard language of the masters of his people. Matthew is a rather strict moralist; he does not hesitate to put on the lips of Jesus threats and condemnations, as did the authoritarian preachers of that time. We will keep that in mind.
John, the fourth evangelist, intervenes during all three years, especially in Lent and Easter. He teaches us that Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven, the light of the world, and the source from which the water of life flows.
They are four different and complementary angles, all necessary if we want "our hearts comforted, closely united in love and reaching out to a rich and perfect intelligence, toward a deeper knowledge of Christ" (Col 2:2).
After a liturgical cycle, another will follow, then another, until the good Lord will take us back to him. The four evangelists will help us to grasp all the features of the face of Christ. They will make us discover the fascinating details. One day we will exclaim with joy: "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you" (Job 42:5). It will be the day when we will feel really in love with him.