With Great Authority Comes Great Love

L

et me share a story about my 5-year-old niece, who has a knack for scrutinizing people's questions with her investigative mind. Our family often jokes that she might grow up to be a successful lawyer. Whenever you ask her something, she responds with another question: "Why?"

During one of my home visits, my sister asked her, "Do you miss me?" To which she replied, "Why?" My sister replies, "Because I miss you." "Why do you miss me?" Then, as if answering her own question, she said, "Is it because you love me?" She seemed to be waiting for that very answer, as though she already knew it in her heart.

Reflecting on this, I realized there’s often more to missing someone or needing their presence than meets the eye.

Fr Mark Thibodeaux SJ, once said that the prayer exercise called the Examen should be the most important quarter-hour of a person's day-to-day. Yet, many Christians today have never even heard of it.

If my niece were told how important the Examen is, she would undoubtedly ask, "Why?" Fr Thibodeaux provides this profound answer:

I've learned that the closer I get to Christ, the more I really long to be with him always. It's not that I desire to be kneeling in a church or sitting in my comfy prayer chair all day. I love the buzz of my life-the endeavor of human activity- too much to be sitting in contemplation all the time. No, what I long for is to have Christ join me in all the adventures and tedium of my active day. I love Christ so much that I want to share every minute of it with him...I want more! I want to feel his presence all the time... the closer I grow to Christ, the more I want to share with him the seemingly insignificant things as well" (Reimagining The Ignatian Examen, Loyola Press, 2015, Mark Thibodeaux SJ).

Why is the Examen so valuable? Because the closer we get to Christ, the more we long to be with him always—to "miss" him so much more. Why? Simply because we’ve learned to know him more clearly, we want to love him more dearly so that we can follow him more nearly. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear" (1 Jn 4:18). In love, there is just more to it.

For my second point, Jesus spoke as having one with authority (Mk 1:21-28). When we look at the curiosity and probing questions of a child, we are reminded of Jesus as early as age 12, who interacted with society as someone with true authority. A little girl's innocent “Why?” pushes us to delve deeper into the main reasons why we do certain things in a certain manner. When we do our Examen, we dig into the Why's and we discern the authority behind every answer. We reflect on whether or not it is the authority of love that underpins our actions. St Bernard of Clairvaux defines how authoritative love is. I quote,

Love is sufficient of itself, it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in its practice. I love because I love, I love that I may love. Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it.

A person with authority is one full of love. No wonder Jesus is the person who can command the evil spirit. All that Jesus had to say was the word, “Quiet.”

This brings me to my third and final point. There were times when Jesus’s disciples could not drive out a particular demon, not because they lacked authority, but because their authority was weak. To strengthen it, they needed to anchor themselves again in the authority of Jesus, who embodies selfless love. Its true value lies in its practice as selfless love. In the words of Saint Bernard, "Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it."

In our daily Examen, we are invited to discern love—not just to ask where the love is or what the acts of love are, but to go deeper. Pope Francis, in his recent encyclical Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us), reminds us that we are not merely called to acts of love but to a transformative way of being that flows from the heart of Christ. The principles he outlines emphasize that living as faithful followers is not solely about doing or action. It is about being—embodying the love of Christ that springs from deep within. Pope Francis highlights the “importance of the heart (DN 2),” which we are called to incarnate in our daily lives.

To conclude, one final question was asked of our little girl: "What do you want to become when you grow up?" And the little girl simply responded with another, "Why?"

Let us pray: No matter what we plan to do or what the future brings, may we always love you, Lord; may we love those you love; and may we love in the manner you love. Amen. Fr JM Manzano SJ