Praying the Communion Antiphon
A Time Set Apart: Friday Second Week of Lent
This Is Love
Communion
Antiphon (1 John 4:10)
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Thinking
About the Words
“This
is love…”
John
does something very striking here.
He defines love not as sentiment nor affection or admiration but that Lov begins with God. It puts love into
perspective. God lovloved us first and then we respond to that love rather than
we loved God…”
This
removes any illusion that we initiated the relationship. The movement begins
with God’s action.
“But
that he loved us.”
God’s
love is prior.
Before repentance.
Before understanding.
Before our efforts.
“And
sent his Son…”
Love
becomes visible. It takes form in a person. We are reminded in this phrase of
the Incarnation-.God with us. All our Christmas memories and remembering the baby in the crib-God with
us was for a purpose.
“Expiation
for our sins.”
This
word can sound technical, but its meaning is simple: the removal of what
separates us from God. Christ bridges the gap created by sin and restores the
possibility of communion.
This
is prayed at Communion. The One we
receive is the Son sent in love. The Eucharist makes present the gift through
which God’s love reaches us again and again.
Lent
is not about proving our love for God. It is about recognising the love that
came first. It is essentially a season of Love.
Reflection
- Do I
sometimes think of Lent as something I do for God rather than a response
to His love?
- How does
it change my prayer to remember that God loved me first?
- Where
have I experienced this love in concrete ways?
- How
might receiving this love shape the way I love others?
There
is something very freeing about this antiphon. The foundation of Lent is not effort.
It is love that began before we ever turned toward God.
Prayer
Lord,
You loved me first.
Open my heart to receive Your love
and to live in its light.
TAKING
THIS FURTHER:
This
antiphon reveals the mission of Jesus.
1.
The Mission of Jesus
“God loved us and sent his Son…”
The
word sent is very important.
Jesus
is not simply a teacher who appeared in history.
He is the One sent by the Father.
His
entire life has a direction and a purpose.
John’s
Gospel repeatedly says:
- “The
Father sent the Son.”
- “I
have come from the Father.”
So
this antiphon reminds us that the Cross was not an accident.
It
was the mission of love.
2.
Creator and Creature
“Not
that we loved God…”
This
places us clearly in the created position.
We
are not the source of love. We are the receivers
of love.
This
restores the right relationship:
God
→ initiates
We → respond
Without
Him we cannot generate the life we seek.
This
echoes what Jesus says elsewhere:
“Apart
from me you can do nothing.” (John 15)
So
the antiphon gently reminds us how deeply we depend on Him.
3.
Love Revealed
John
does something beautiful here.
He
does not tell us to love first.
He
says:
“This
is love.”
Love
is revealed before it is commanded.
We
see it in Christ:
- sent by
the Father
- given
for the world
- restoring
what sin had broken
Only
after seeing this love can we begin to live it.
4.
The Lenten Invitation
So
the antiphon invites us to consider that love.
Not
just understand it intellectually.
But
contemplate it.
To
pause and ask:
- What
does it mean that God loved me first?
- What
does it mean that Christ was sent for this purpose?
- How does
that love change the way I live?
Lent
is often associated with effort and discipline. These are necessary of course
but this antiphon quietly reminds us:
The
foundation of Lent is God’s initiative.
Everything
else flows from that.
This
antiphon reveals the mission of Jesus. The Father sent the Son because love
moved Him to restore the relationship between Creator and creature. Before we
ever turned toward God, His love was already reaching toward us.
By now, you may have realised that the Communion Antiphons are not simply pious sentences. They are small windows into the mystery of Christ and the more you sit with them, the more they open.
T
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