Do you remember an incident in your life when a dear friend has opened his arms to embrace you after many years of not having any form of communication with him? How did you feel? Excitement, joy, welcomed, missed, loved,..how about if that particular person does not mean anything to you? Would you feel the same? Obviously not. But when we see Jesus on the cross, with his arms open-wide to receive all, we see a different reality, an incomprehensible way of loving. The open arms of Jesus on the cross gives us an example of the true meaning of love, the authentic way of manifesting love in its deepest sense. In His Sermon on the mount, Jesus told us to love our enemies because if we only love the people whom we love and who loves us, there is nothing so special about it. That is what christian love is all about. It is a radical way of loving. Jesus got enemies and unbelievers. But he loves them the same.His open-wide arms on the cross shows us an example to do things as he did, to see things as he saw, to hear things as he heard and to give ourselves as he has given himself to us. St. John said that when a person proclaims that he loves God but does not love his brother, that particular person lies. Loving oneself proceeds from being loved by others. When one is loved deeply, he cannot but love in return and give love to others. Jesus experienced a very profound love from his Father, a love felt mutually between them and was poured out for the salvation of humanity. When two people are in love, the love is too much that it produces a fruit.
The open-wide arms of Jesus is an embrace to the dark side of humanity, to the dark part of each one of us which transforms our heart to love others as he has loved. This is of course not an easy task, it is by the grace of God that we live and it is by the same that we should move and exist.
Jesus´ open-wide arms of Jesus is an embrace of compassion to the deeply wounded heart and soul of humanity. It is the only cure that we can give to the unloved and to the less fortunate ones, to those who have their fist and arms closed...
