Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still, and said "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.[1]
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still, and said "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.[1]
This beautiful poem, by James Henry Leigh Hunt, makes a
connection between loving God and loving our fellow men, which is exactly what
Jesus teaches us in tonight’s Gospel.
Our Gospel
passage this evening is known informally as the rehabilitation of Peter. We remember that Peter denied Jesus three
times before the crucifixion. But now
Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to redeem himself by professing his love for
Jesus three times. But something more is
going on here. After each profession of
love, Jesus gives Peter a mission: “Feed
my lambs; tend my sheep; feed my sheep.”
Jesus makes clear that “Peter’s love of Jesus will be evidenced when he
cares for Jesus’ sheep.”[2]
Love of
God and love of our neighbor is our mission as Christians. But this Gospel passage links the two
together. Jesus and Leigh Hunt’s poem
remind us that simply saying that we love God isn’t necessarily enough. Our words of love for Jesus have to be
matched with lives of love for each other.[3] And there’s no shortage of opportunity to
love God by loving our neighbor.
One such opportunity
brings us together tonight. We come together
this evening before the Blessed Sacrament to pray in solidarity with the people
of the Philippines who have suffered from the devastation of Typhoon
Yolanda. What a powerful expression of
love for Jesus’ sheep. Through the real
presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we unite ourselves with Jesus, and we
unite ourselves with all people. That’s
the purpose of the Eucharist and the meaning of communion. By spending time with the Bread of Life,
dedicating our prayers to the people of the Philippines, we’re spending time
with them, feeding them, tending to them, loving them.
Over the next several months we’ll be
asked to contribute money, clothing, food and personal items to help the people
of the Philippines - these are all wonderful and important acts of love. But not everyone can afford to do these
things. But we all can unite ourselves with the people of the Philippines through
Jesus in prayer and communion. We all
can love them and thereby count our names among those whom love of God has
blessed.
[1] James
Henry Leigh Hunt, “Abou Ben Adhem,” 1838.
[2]
“The Gospel of John,” The New
Interpreter’s Bible, vol. IX (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1995) at 864.
[3] Id.
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