Love is beautiful in any language

Love in any language is beautiful. On Mother's Day, the simple 'I love you' is powerful. Women who hear these words today know how much they are appreciated by their children. Our international vocabulary would be greatly impoverished without these words. Life itself would be void, mechanical and virtually meaningless if love were erased from our scriptures, literature and music.
   'Do you love me, Peter?' Jesus once asked his disciple. I am sure Peter was surprised. Jesus wanted a response. Are you ready to go the extra mile? Are you ready to sacrifice much for my sake and for the others before you? Are you ready to accept the burden of suffering that leadership and love demand? The love Jesus speaks of so vociferously entails both suffering and sacrifice - two key elements every mother understands. And to which I may add every friendship, commitment and relationship demand! We know equally well that this word 'love' can be misused and misinterpreted. Some things that masquerade under the label of love bear little resemblance to the real thing. I read once about a woman who blasted her husband with a shotgun and then, threw herself across his lifeless body, crying out repeatedly: 'how much I loved him!' The poor guy may have said: 'who needs that type of love?' Most of us would reply: 'love me less and let me live longer!' The importance of love is not what we say. Nonetheless, words are still important. Neither is love based only on what we feel! What we do is vital. Jesus often told his own friends: 'if you truly love me; keep my commandments that I have given you.' The same principle of action carries over into all of life's relationships especially when we celebrate Mother's Day. And yes, these three little words carry so much weight! My Chinese father never said: 'I love you' in English. To his Creole wife, my mother, he always spoke them in his native dialect: 'oh oi lei.' I suppose when he said those words, they came directly from his heart. Love is not the private property of lovers, poets or teenage romantics. We never outgrow our need for this verbal declaration of love. Perhaps by putting Peter to the challenge, Jesus was charging us not to take each other for granted. Then, he ends his words: 'go, do likewise!' Show your words in action.
   May our mothers, like the mother of Jesus, experience our love in deeds. Happy Mother's Day to all. "Ti amo Mama!"