One Mind And One Heart

 

This Sunday's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the first community of believers. They are really the first parish founded by the apostles. As Saint Luke describes it, it is a community marked by deep love for one another. They shared everything they had so that none of them went hungry or homeless. Though the community of believers was experiencing rapid growth, no one was lost in the crowd or left out. All shared a sense of belonging and friendship because of their common faith in the Risen Lord. 

In today's world, people long for community and to belong. Many of us live far from our extended families and childhood friends. Our work schedules and the technologies that surround us increasingly isolate us. We do not want to be another face in the crowd. We want to belong. We want to be missed when we don't show up. We want to be known and loved. This lonely world so often makes it difficult for people to believe and trust in a good God.

If we, as disciples of Christ, are going to effectively spread the good news of his resurrection, then we must be a people marked by love as were the first community of believers. As a parish united by faith, we are called to welcome each other, to take care of each other and to testify to one another about the power of God at work in our lives. Most people come to know and believe in God by meeting someone who is filled with God's love. God wants to make this parish a family where people encounter his love and become convinced that he is real because of the goodness of our lives.

Learning From One Another

Manny’s grandparents were immigrants from Portugal. Because they spoke very little English, it was difficult for him to understand them. He dreaded going to their house because he thought it smelled funny and he didn’t like the way their food tasted. Whenever Manny’s parents would take him there to visit, he would spend the whole time asking his parents, “Can we go now?”. He would rather do anything else than spend the afternoon there.

When Manny started high school, he had to take a foreign language. He assumed that Portuguese would be the easiest one for him to take since he was already somewhat familiar with it and he could always ask his parents for help with his homework.  The next Sunday after his first class, his family visited his grandparents. Manny told his grandfather that he was studying Portuguese and said some of the phrases he had learned. His grandfather helped him with the pronunciation of some of the words he was struggling with and taught him a few more phrases. They laughed together as they helped each other communicate.

Manny saw a different side of his grandfather that afternoon. He had always assumed his grandfather was ignorant because he didn’t speak English. For the first time, he realized that it was the other way around. He was the ignorant one. He was determined to learn Portuguese as quickly as he could so that he could learn more from his grandfather.

During their weekly visits, Manny learned a lot about his family’s history. He learned about his grandfather’s career in Portugal and how he left it all behind to give his children a better life. He enjoyed hearing the stories about the village he grew up in and what life was like back then. Manny would even pray the rosary with him from time to time and would go to Mass in Portuguese at his grandfather’s parish. The time he spent with his grandfather became the best part of his week.

When his grandfather passed away several years later, Manny felt gratitude for the opportunity to get to know him while he was alive. He had a fuller sense of himself and of his family history because of the time he spent with him. Not only did he learn a lot about Portuguese language and culture, but he learned a lot about life and faith. No education could have given him what his grandfather had.

Today we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Jesus needed a family to protect and provide for Him during His life on earth. Just so, all of us need a family to bring us into the world, to provide for us, and to teach us how to live fuller and happier lives. Our families can be a source of great joy for us and also a source of great pain. Either way, there is no way to replace what only a father and mother can give to us.

Today’s first reading encourages us to honor our fathers and mothers. Throughout His life, Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary. No matter how old we are, we should be respectful and obedient to our parents as well. We might think we know more than they do and they might even drive us a little crazy. Still, they are our parents and the first people to love us. Out of respect for all the sacrifices they’ve made, we should be thankful for them and take care of them.

As we look ahead to a new year, perhaps a good resolution for us would be to spend more time with our parents or other family members. Perhaps there is someone in our family - a grandparent, aunt, or cousin - whom we’ve never had a chance to get to know. The new year might be a good time to change that.

Perhaps there is someone in our family whom we have hurt. This Christmas Season might be a good time to ask for forgiveness and reconcile that relationship. Or there might be family members who have hurt us. It would do us a lot of good to let go of our grudges and forgive them.

Jesus came to earth to bring healing and reconciliation. The best place for that to take place is within our families. If this year is not the best time to ask for forgiveness from a family member or to extend it, we can always begin with prayer. God wants our families to be havens of peace and love for us. He will make a way even when it seems impossible. Perhaps our families seem to be broken beyond repair. God can bring reconciliation and healing into the worst of situations. If we need it, our Heavenly Father will provide it for us. We just need to keep believing, hoping, and praying.

The Church is also a family. Jesus tells us that the bonds of faith are even stronger than the bonds of blood. He says, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out” (Luke 8:21). Like any family, the members of the Church can hurt us. Those wounds can run very deep and seem impossible to heal. If we have been wounded by someone in the Church, let us ask God to help us forgive. Let us also pray for those whose relationship with God has been damaged because of the insensitivity and carelessness of our leaders. Jesus wants nothing more than that they be healed and reconciled with the Church He founded to be a mother and a family for all believers.

As a family, we gather in this place today. The Church is our home. Here we learn our family history through the Bible. And here the greatest of all Sunday meals is prepared for us - the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We are challenged here to make faith the cornerstone of our family life - to look to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as an example for our own homes. We cannot change the past but we can create a future of hope and healing for ourselves and our families by choosing love and forgiveness.

Holy Families Produce Great Saints

If you decided that you wanted to become a saint, where would you have to go to make your dream a reality?

Would you have to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or Rome? Would you have to go to a monastery? Would you have to visit renowned people of faith around the globe? Would you have to visit all the world’s great libraries and read the works of faith handed down to us over the generations?

While all these pursuits might be helpful in nourishing our faith, they are not absolutely necessary to becoming a saint.

If we want to become saints - and all of us are called to be saints through our baptism - then we need to look no further than our families and our homes.

It is through our family that we first come to learn about our faith. Our parents are the ones who bring us to church and teach us our prayers. By their example, we learn what it means to be men and women of faith. And in the home we learn and practice virtues such as patience, kindness and love which are necessary for living a godly life in this world. It is through our families that God forms our minds and hearts to serve Him as women and men of faith.

There is no doubt that all the great saints had their beginnings in a family. Jesus Himself needed Mary and Joseph to teach Him how to speak, how to pray and how to obey God. One of the Church’s greatest saints, Saint Augustine, was converted by the ceaseless prayers of his mother, Saint Monica. In more recent times, Saint Therese of Lisieux learned her faith from her godly parents both of whom are also canonized saints. In fact, they are the first saints to have been canonized as a couple. Blessed Pope John Paul II spoke frequently and fondly of how his parents nurtured a sense of faith, courage and integrity in him.

All of us, no matter where we are on our journey of faith, are called to make our families a priority. It is in our homes and among our loved ones that God wants to make us holy.

Today’s readings are rich with advice and encouragement for us in relationship to our family members. We could be here until next Sunday going through every line of these Scriptures and reflecting on their meaning for marriage and family life. In fact, it would be a good idea for all of us in the coming week to look these readings up in our Bibles or online and pray over them so that we can begin to act on them. They give us a beautiful blueprint for how God intends us to live. However, today, for the sake of time, let us focus on what the role of each member of the family is.

Our first reading tells us that “God sets a father in honor over his children.” In any family, the father is irreplaceable.  It is by the father’s words and example that daughters come to know that they are beautiful and worthy of being protected. Sons learn from their dads about courage and integrity and about the dignity with which they should treat women. Not only do fathers bring economic security to families, they bring psychological and emotional security as well. Also, it is through our earthly fathers that we learn to relate to our Heavenly Father. If our father on earth is stern and distant, we will perceive God the Father in the same way. However, if our father is warm, affectionate and loving we will relate to God the same way. So all fathers have a very important role - a true vocation from God - to be examples of love to their wives and children.

Mothers also have an irreplaceable role in the home. All new life comes through the mother who shares her body first with her husband and then with the children which come from their loving union. This is a beautiful reflection of Jesus who gives His own Body and Blood to give us live and nourish us in the family God. Mothers teach their children how to be gentle, how to take care of themselves and how to care for each other. When children are hurting, their first instinct is to run to their mothers because they have a special touch in bring comfort and making the pain go away. As Jesus honored His Blessed Mother, we should all honor our own mothers no matter how flawed or imperfect they may be, because they are God’s gift to us reflecting His own tenderness and mercy.

Children also have a very special role to play in the family unit. It is for the nurturing of children primarily that God created the family. It is through children that parents experience true self-sacrificing love. By facing all the challenges that come with raising boys and girls, parents grow in patience, love and gentleness. Also, children grow in virtue by sharing in chores around the house. By emptying the dishwasher, raking the leaves, cleaning their rooms, they learn diligence and the satisfaction that comes from doing a job well. When they interact with their brothers and sisters, they learn how to share and to put the interests of others before their own. Through their families, children learn to become good citizens of their country and holy saints in God’s Kingdom.

No families are perfect and not every family is whole. Many times through death or divorce, homes cannot always have both a father and mother. However, God provides the grace to overcome the shortcomings and weaknesses of our families. So the other essential element of any home is Jesus. When we put Jesus at the center of our family lives through prayer and through attending Mass, He will provide us with all we need to grow in love and faith.

In no other time of human history has it been harder for the family. However, through faith, we can reclaim the blessings that God intends to offer us through the home. It requires us to make a renewed commitment to our own family, taking up whatever challenges may come our way with determination and courage. When we embrace it all with the grace that God gives we will find ourselves growing in holiness and, in the end, becoming saints.

Surviving Family Dinners

One full month has passed since we gathered with our families to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. In the middle of winter, we may look back fondly on those days and miss the time we spent laughing and reminiscing with the people we love and who know us best.

At the same time, not all family gatherings are pleasant. It seems as though each family has that one aunt, brother or cousin who always has to bring up politics at a party. No matter what the occasion, they have to make a point of letting everyone know what their views are. Inevitably, someone else has to chime in to let them know that they don’t agree with them. All of a sudden, the atmosphere becomes stiff and awkward. People excuse themselves from the table or decide that it is time to leave the party altogether. What should have been a festive gathering becomes uncomfortable and divisive.

When the topic turns to religion, however, the situation can become even more tense. As people of faith, it is one thing for us to bite our tongue when a politician is being criticized. However, when our Church or beliefs are being challenged, we feel the need to defend our faith. When our children are at the table, we feel an even stronger responsibility to state clearly what we believe so that they do not think that we agree with what is being said. At the same time, we do not want to offend anyone or make our family gatherings contentious.

What are we to do? Should we just bite our tongue when our faith is being mischaracterized and ridiculed? For the sake of peace, should we just try to change the subject?

Saint Peter in his first letter gives the following advice: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Pt 3:16). The key is to state our beliefs with gentleness and respect. Whenever we talk about our faith, our first concern should not be to impress everyone with what we know or to prove that we are right. Rather, we want them to know Jesus who is the source of all joy. In all things we must make it clear that we are motivated by love.

 In today’s second reading, Saint Paul spells out for us in vivid detail what love looks like. His words can help us to understand what our attitude should be when we are called upon to defend our faith to our family and friends.

First of all, Saint Paul tells us that love is patient and kind. Patient and kind people listen more often than they speak. Many times family discussions become heated because everyone is talking and no one is listening. What if, instead of piping up right away with our opinion, we let others explain their position? What if we asked them questions about what they believe and why? When we do so, we are letting others know that we truly respect them and want to understand them. Then, when it is our turn to explain what we believe, they will be more open and respectful to what we have to say.

Saint Paul then tells us that love is not pompous. A loving person is not arrogant or boastful. When we speak to others about our faith, we will get nowhere if we come across as superior or as being a know-it-all. If our first concern is with showing how right we are and how wrong everyone else is, we will only being enforcing the stereotype that people of faith are “holier than thou” and hypocritical. Rather, we must always be humble when we talk about our beliefs. It must be clear to all that we are sinners just as they are and that our primary concern is with seeking the truth. When we do not know the answer to a question, we should admit it. When we do so, we let others know that we do not want to impose our beliefs on them but that we respect them even though we strongly disagree them.

Saint Paul then tells us that love is not quick-tempered. When our beliefs are being challenged and the Church we love is being criticized, it can be very difficult for us not to become angry. We can easily become frustrated when others fail to grasp the logic behind what we are saying. However, losing our temper and belittling others only offends them and closes their minds to what we have to say. It is true that sometimes discussions about religion can get heated. When that happens, we simply have to say, “Perhaps this is not the right time and place to talk about this,” and walk away. We can never fall into the trap of getting angry when we explain our faith to others because it only gives them an excuse to dismiss what we are saying.

When Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth, the people He knew best found it hard to believe Him. We should not be surprised, then, when we fail to convince or convert our family and friends. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said that people are convinced more by our example than by our opinion. If we can treat our family members and friends with love, gentleness and respect even when we disagree with them, then we can hope that their hearts and minds will be open for God to work within them. Then we should pray that someone else comes along who can plant the seed of faith in them. That is the loving attitude we are called to display as followers of Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, it is love that convinces, love that converts and love that reveals the face of God in Jesus Christ even to the hardest heart

The Wonder Of God's Love

When children first learn about God, they can believe that he created all things and that he is everywhere at the same time. What they have trouble believing is that God knows every single person on earth by name. It is just too much for their little brains to comprehend. And when you tell them that not only does he know everyone who is living now, he knows everyone who ever lived and everyone who will ever live in the future, you might think that their heads would explode. However, as they get over the shock of realizing God's vast knowledge and power, it is a joy to see their eyes open with wonder when it begins to sink in that God knows each one of them personally, by name. They then begin to realize that God not only knows them but loves them.

It is important for us every now and then in prayer to ponder over this simple but profound fact. God knows each of us by name. He knows every detail of our lives. He knew us before we were even born. He knew us in our mother's womb, and he knows us now. Why is he so interested in us when he has a whole universe to watch over? Very simply, because he loves us. His love for us is the one thing that can never change in our lives.

Today's first reading is taken from the beginning of the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is being called by God to be a prophet at a time of much corruption in Israel. He knows that it is going to be a struggle speaking God's truth to the nation's power brokers. He knows that he will be ridiculed, persecuted and maybe even killed. God does not assure Jeremiah that it will be easy or that people will listen to him. Instead, he tells Jeremiah that he knew him in his mother's womb, and that he will always be with him. That knowledge that God is always by his side will give Jeremiah the courage and strength to speak the truth to the people, to shoulder their ridicule and rejection and to face his own death. His confidence is not in himself. His sense of security does not come from whether or not people like and accept him. Rather he needs nothing else than to know that God loves him and is with him.

In the gospel proclaimed today, Jesus is preaching in his hometown of Nazareth. One would think that it would be the safest place for him to be, among those who have known him since he was a boy. But his words meet with opposition even there. In fact, the people are so incensed by his message that they drag him out to the edge of the town to throw him off the cliff. But Jesus calmly walks away. He knows that God is with him, that it is not his time to suffer and die, and that his Father would not allow a hair on his head to be harmed until the time was right. Any of us would have been devastated to have our friends reject us as Jesus' friends rejected him. Though Jesus was no doubt hurt by them, he was not devastated. The source of his identity and confidence did not come from the esteem of the people of Nazareth. Rather it came from the Father's love for him. Knowing that he could never be separated from that love gave him the courage to labor on preaching the good news even in the face of such hostility.

Where do we place our security? Where do we draw confidence from? If our security and confidence are not based on God's love for us, then they are misplaced. There is nothing else on earth that we can count on as surely as God's love for us. Our money eventually runs out. Our loved ones eventually die and leave us. Our health gets weaker as we age. When all is said and done, it is only God's love that is constant in our lives.

Our society is suffering from an epidemic of anxiety. Our world feels unbalanced, and fear can so easily creep into our minds and hearts. We have placed our confidence in money, relationships, our talents and our health, and realized just how shaky all those foundations can be. When we sense that fear is nipping at our heels, it is time to turn to our Heavenly Father and reaffirm our faith that he is in control of our lives. It is time to put our confidence in his unfailing love. Such an attitude will not solve our problems. But it will give us the confidence to face them and the perspective necessary to not be overwhelmed by them.

Our second reading today is one of the most popular in all the New Testament. It is Saint Paul's song of love. The love which Saint Paul describes, however, is not an emotional love full of drama as we might see on a soap opera. Rather it is the love of Christ displayed in all its glory on the cross. God loved each of us so much that he sent his beloved Son to die for us. If God has loved us so much, he will do all else for us besides. And we can never lose that love. No matter what we may have done in our lives, no matter how far off we may have drifted, God always calls us back to him. We can count on God to forgive us and to put behind us whatever sins we may have committed. The one thing we can count on in life is God's forgiving love.

God knows each of us. He knows every detail of our lives. He knows what we need before we ask. He knows our future, and he knows our past. Why would rely on anything or anyone else when the God who created the universe loves us so passionately and so completely? How could we ever doubt that everything will be okay when God himself is watching over us?

The Holy Family

Today's gospel reading, the finding of Jesus in the temple, is the last word we hear about Jesus until he appears on the banks of the Jordan River to be baptized by John. From the time he is twelve until he turns thirty, the gospels are silent about his life. These twenty years are called the "hidden years" because Scripture gives us no details about the life of Jesus during that time. What little we do know is summed up at the end of today's gospel: He lived in Nazareth. He obeyed his parents. And he "advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man."

Though we have few details about their life together, the Holy Family of Nazareth - Jesus, Mary and Joseph - have served as a model of what the Christian family is meant to be. Like most families, they lived ordinary and unremarkable lives. We can presume that they worked, shared meals together and prayed. As a good Jewish family, they would have attended their local synagogue and made pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem. It was in this simple, uneventful home, however, that Jesus, our Savior, grew and was formed into the man who would one day shoulder the burden of our sin, die on a cross and rise from the dead. It was in these humble and simple surroundings that this great man spent most of his life on earth.

Most of us, like Jesus during his hidden years, are not called to do remarkable acts of charity or heroism. Rather it falls to us to live simple and humble lives with our families. Whether we are parents or children, we grow in age, wisdom and grace through the joys and trials of our everyday lives. We learn the beauty and power of God whenever a new baby is born into our families. When the anxiety of paying bills or dealing with illness mounts, we grow in trust of our Heavenly Father who always makes things work out for our good. By doing our chores around the house cheerfully and with love, we learn about serving others. At family gatherings, we learn to be patient and kind by biting our tongue whenever our cranky uncle starts talking about politics or our teenage cousin double dips his tortilla chip into the salsa. Each family, no matter how imperfect, is a temple where we can find Jesus present and a school where we can learn the ways of God.

It is for this reason that prayer is so important for family life. We need to acknowledge that Christ is at the center of our lives as a family and to remind ourselves that our home is a holy place. One great way to do that is by having our homes blessed. Whenever we bless something, we are setting it apart for God, we are declaring that it is holy. By blessing our homes, we are saying that our home life is consecrated to God the Father, that it is now under his protection and that his word will be the guiding principle of our family life. Another vital way of bringing prayer into our homes is by making it a point to say grace at every meal, even when we are eating in a restaurant or have guests over. Grace at meals teaches us to be thankful for what we have and to be mindful of those who go without. It also sets a tone for the meal, making the behavior and conversation at the table more courteous and serious. No matter how we choose to do it, prayer is vital to family life so that we may have the strength to deal with the pressures of modern life and to help us recognize God's grace working in small and subtle ways in our home.

It should not surprise us that Jesus, the sinless one, obeyed his parents, Mary and Joseph. As children in catechism we learn that obeying our parents is our first duty. No doubt, whenever we went to confession, disobeying them was at the top of our list of sins. We learned that God gave our parents to us to protect us and to teach us. As imperfect as they may be, our parents are the first to introduce us to our faith and our primary models of what it means to live a Christian life. For this reason, the fourth commandment - Honor thy father and mother - is the first one which deals with our responsibilities to our neighbor. And it does not expire when we turn eighteen or move out of the house. Rather, God intends that we love and honor our parents throughout our lives, especially when they are older and most need our attention and help. Older people in our society increasingly feel that they are a burden to their families and that their lives lack meaning and purpose. They need our affection in their old age more than ever. All of us have much to learn still from our parents no matter how old we are. Most especially, teenagers and younger children need contact with their grandparents and older relatives  so that they can learn their family history and grow in their sense of personal identity. Along with prayer, honoring our parents as Jesus did is one of the pillars

of a strong family life.

Like Jesus, each of us is called to grow in age, wisdom and grace through our family life. As children, we are called to honor our parents as the ones given to us by God to teach us. As parents, we are to recognize that our children are gifts from God, entrusted to our care, so that we can nurture them into strong followers of Christ. There has perhaps been no other time when family life has been under so much pressure. We see the effects of our weakened moral climate and a difficult economy all around us. Divorce has touched just about every family in one way or another. Now more than ever it is time for us to turn to God for strength to make him the cornerstone of our homes so that the strains of modern life will not break our families. We should also turn to that model of simple faith and humility, the Holy Family, and ask for their prayers to help us follow their example in our lives. Then our families, no matter how broken or imperfect, will be holy temples where we find Jesus, a safe place for children and a school of love and faith.

God Chooses The Poor

They say, "If you need something done, find someone who's busy."

However, when God needs something done, he chooses a poor person.

The prophet Elijah could not have found a poorer, more desperate person than the widow gathering sticks outside the gates of Zarephath. She was down to her last morsels and was resigned to the fact that she and her son would soon starve to death. The story of her generosity to the prophet despite her own need has fed the faith of countless believers throughout the millennia and has inspired them to generosity even in the face of destitution.

Jesus likewise chose a poor widow as an example of giving in faith. In sharp contrast to the religious leaders whose fine garments covered over their spiritual nakedness, she abandoned all she had to God. She could have held onto those pennies thinking they would be of no use to anyone else. She could have looked at the religious leaders in their finery and thought that she needed the money much more than they did. Her generosity, instead, was an act of faith that God would provide for her if she would abandon everything she had into his hands. The story of her generosity now enshrined in the gospels has done immeasurably more good down the centuries than millions of shekels donated to the temple treasury could ever have.

It is an enduring truth of God's plan that he chooses the weak. If God has a plan for us - and he certainly does - we can be sure that it does not involve what we perceive our talents and strengths to be. If we think we are good speakers, he may ask us to be silent. If we think we are good organizers, he may call us to suffer under the chaos of a scatterbrained leader. Most likely, God is going to ask of us something we think we are totally incapable of doing or giving, something outside our "skill set".

This was the experience of every great saint. At some time in their lives they felt the frustration of wanting to do something great for God but being called to do something else. He led them to a ministry they thought was less important or that they felt ill-equipped to undertake. Yet they obeyed and drew on his strength to bring to fruition his great design, a plan much bolder and more effective than anything they could have otherwise mustered. God does all this to make it clear that it is his plan that works, not ours, and that it is his grace that proves effective, not our own gifts and talents.

A wise spiritual director once said that God is in the real, not the ideal. We may dream of doing great things for God, but he most often calls us to do small things with great love. He is calling us to take out the trash, pick up dog poo or coach a soccer team with great love. If we  do not think we are good at it or capable of it, we may find ourselves called to it nonetheless. If we think the work is not important or beneath us, then God will certainly teach us humility by leading us to accept it.

God can only use the poor because they have nothing to lose. They are the freest to give. If we want God to use us, then we must give out of our weakness and need and not out of our surplus and strength.

As in all things, Jesus is our example. Though He is the most powerful man to ever walk the earth, He came as a simple carpenter born to a poor family. He did not seek high offices either in politics or in religion. Rather He chose to live among the poor and homeless. He eschewed places of honor to sit in the company of sinners, lepers and outcasts. He came to establish God’s Kingdom not by force but by love. When He was struck, spat upon and crucified, He did not retaliate but forgave. He made Himself poor and weak so that we might become rich in grace and strong in faith. Like the widows in the first reading and gospel, He gave us all He had and it has nourished generations of believers to the present day.

We come to this table today just as we are - with our strengths and weaknesses, virtues and sinfulness, successes and failures. God wants everything that we are - both the good and the bad. There is no need to hide before our Heavenly Father who sees our hearts. We need not be ashamed because He created us as we are and He loves us just as we are. If we can come before Him with simple faith and humility, offering ourselves without reserve, we can begin to see Him do great things in us.

God Will Never Forget You

Albert’s wife had been suffering from Alzheimer's for over five years. She had deteriorated to the point of  not recognizing anyone, including Albert. Every morning at 9:00 he made a point of having breakfast with her at her nursing home. He would sit with her and tell her the stories of their life together - their wedding day, their children and all the other experiences they shared over some fifty years of marriage.

One morning, Albert wasn’t feeling well. He was struggling to get out of bed and get himself ready to go to the nursing home. Nonetheless, he pushed himself as hard as he could not wanting to be late for breakfast with his wife.

Seeing that he wasn’t feeling well, his daughter said to him, “Dad, why don’t you stay home in bed today and rest. Anyway, you know Mom doesn’t remember you.”

Albert replied, “You’re right. Your mother doesn’t remember me. But I remember her.”

What a beautiful example of unconditional love Albert shows us! He reminds us what true love means - that we give of ourselves to others even when we get nothing in return, even when our gestures of kindness are forgotten, and even when others fail to understand why we are trying so hard when it doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere.

In particular, Albert teaches us something about God’s love. Even when we forget Him, God always remembers us. Even when we neglect Him, He always takes care of us. No matter how far we try to run away from Him, He never stops pursuing us. No matter how hard we try to hide from Him, He never stops trying to find us.

This is what God says through the prophet Isaiah: “Can a woman forget her child? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have carved you on the palms of my hand” (Is 49:15-16).

In today’s gospel, a scribe asks Jesus what the greatest commandment of the Law is. He replies by echoing the words of Moses in today’s first reading: “You shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” In this commandment, Jesus reveals to us the key to a holy life. Those who love God above all things do not sin. They do not lie, steal, or hurt others. They remember the love God has for them and try to reflect that love in everything they do.

How is it possible for us to love God when we cannot see Him?

First of all, we must recognize that the type of love we are talking about is not a sentimental, affectionate type of love that a teenager might experience with his first crush or that we might feel for a puppy. Rather, the type of love that Jesus is calling us to is the type of love that Albert showed to his wife. It is a love that is willing to sacrifice. It is a love that is complete and total, unwilling to make excuses and unwilling to settle for less than total commitment.

Such unconditional love is impossible for us with our sinful, hardened hearts. We cannot attain to such a love of God through our own efforts. It must be a gift from God. So we must continue to pray for it. And we can pray with great confidence because God wants nothing more than that we love Him. Therefore, He will make it possible for us if we ask Him earnestly and insistently.

Like any gift, it must be put to use if it is going to grow. Just so, we must put into practice the love God places in our hearts if that love is to be perfect and complete.

Jesus tells us just how we are supposed to put God’s love into practice when He goes on to tell the scribe in today’s gospel: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus links love of God to love of neighbor. Saint John tells us, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love a brother or sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20).  We grow in love of God, then, by loving our neighbor.

Again, we are not talking about a sentimental type of love. We are not even talking about liking others or wanting to be their friends. Rather, we are talking about putting the needs of others before our own, serving others even when our motives are questioned, and giving without expecting anything in return. This type of love is a decision we make based on our love for God, not on any emotions we feel. It finds expression in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy which include feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked, educating the ignorant and praying for the conversion of sinners. By making daily, intentional decisions to love others, we are showing our love for God. And, in so doing, that love grows stronger within us.

Every Sunday, we gather here to remember. We remember the great love God showed us by sending His Son to die for us. We remember how Jesus gave us His Body and Blood in the form of bread and wine. As we receive this gift of His love we ask Him to make our hearts like His - filled with unconditional, sacrificial love. And we commit ourselves to loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. In so doing, the world will finally be transformed by the love of God.

Heaven Runs On Love

A Catholic school teacher invited her pastor to visit her classroom and answer questions her students had been asking about heaven.

In the course of the conversation, one young man asked, “If God loves us and wants us to be  with Him in heaven, why didn’t He just put us there already instead of making us live on earth?”

The pastor explained it by comparing the situation to a child who was about to inherit his family business. Would it make any sense, he asked them, for the father to give his child the business before he had learned to read and write or before he knew how to add or subtract? No matter how much he may love his son, would it make any sense to let him run the business before he understood the product they were manufacturing and what went into bringing it to market? If he were to give it to his son before he was ready to run it, both his son and the company would suffer.

He went on to explain that it is the same with heaven. It is not just a place but an activity, the activity of loving God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength. To be ready for eternal life in God’s presence, we must learn first to love Him above all things. Just as a son is not ready to inherit his father’s business until he can learn how to add and subtract, so we cannot enter into Paradise until we learn how to love.

Jesus tells us in today’s gospel that the greatest commandment is that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It is a commandment that we have heard often and, like the scribe, we can wholeheartedly agree with Jesus that there is nothing more important than love. But what does it mean to love God above all things? How can we know that we have reached such a love?

Jesus answers that question for us by linking our love of God to our love of neighbor. We know that we love God if we also love others. As Saint John tells us, we cannot love the God we do not see if we hate the neighbor we do see. Therefore, our love of God is not measured by those we love the most - our families and friends. They are easy to love. As Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, “If you love those who love you, what merit is there in that? Pagans and tax collectors do the same.” Rather, our love for God is measured by those we love the least. It is measured by the concern we have for the poor who cannot repay us. It is measured by the attention we give to the sick who are pushed aside and forgotten. It is measured by our willingness to forgive those who hate and hurt us. If we want to know how much we love God, it is there that we must look.

Like faith, such love is a gift from God. Loving those who do not love us does not come naturally to us. It is difficult for us to look past our own interests to the needs of others. It can only come as a gift of grace. Nonetheless, it is absolutely necessary if we are to reach our eternal destiny of everlasting life with God.

How can we receive this gift? First of all, it comes to us through prayer. When we reflect on how much God has loved us, when we consider that He sent His only Son to die for us, when we consider all the blessings He gives us, we cannot help but love Him in return. As Saint John says, love consists not in that we have loved God but that He has loved us. We also grow in love by reflecting on how each person is made in the image and likeness of God and on how He loves all people without distinction. As that reality sinks into our minds and hearts, we also find it easier to love others no matter their race, religion, social status or political beliefs. Out of love for God, we can even find it possible to love and forgive those who do not love us in return.

We also grow in love by keeping the commandments. Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. Though love of God and neighbor are the greatest commandments, they do not mean that the others are not important. All of God’s laws,  and in turn, all of the Church’s rules, are meant to teach us what it means to love. As Moses tells the Israelites in today’s first reading, by observing God’s law we grow and prosper in the land He has given us. We can measure our love of God, then, in our willingness to keep His word. If Jesus founded the Church, then we can also say that we can measure our love of God in our willingness to follow what the Church teaches us is necessary to believe. They are all given to us not to limit our freedom or take away our pleasure, but to instruct us in what it means to love so that we will be prepared not only to flourish in this life but to enjoy eternal life with our loving Father.

Heaven runs on love. When we love others from our heart, we bring a bit of heaven to this hurting world. As we grow in our ability to love, we also prepare ourselves for our eternal destiny. The Eucharist we are about to receive is also all about love. It is the Body and Blood of Jesus given to us out of love. He died for all people - both those who would come to love Him in return and those who would reject His offer of salvation. Through this Sacrament, we are strengthened to do the same - to love all persons without distinction and without limits - until we reach our destiny where love reigns supreme.

The Rich Diversity of God's People

The world used to be a much larger place. At one time, people of different ethnic backgrounds and religions lived very separate lives. If they did not live in separate countries, there were different neighborhoods and ghettos for each class of people. No one ever strayed outside of his or her neighborhood or spoke with people of a different race or nationality. Even our churches were separated by language and ethnic backgrounds. There was the Polish parish on one corner, the Irish parish three houses down and the Italian parish across the street. Everyone lived in his or her own bubble, isolated from those who spoke different languages, worshiped differently and had different beliefs.

Today, the world is much smaller. People of different backgrounds live, work and go to school together. We shop at the same stores and eat in the same restaurants. People of different religions, nationalities and political beliefs are no longer strangers. They are our neighbors, co-workers and fellow parishioners. Their children are friends with our children. We are no longer able to isolate ourselves in ghettos to avoid mixing with those who are different from us.

Sadly, however, some of the same suspicion and hostility that existed when we lived separate lives continues to spill into life in the modern world. All over the world we see racial, ethnic and religious tensions. Immigrant and refugee populations are scapegoated for all the problems in society. There is an ongoing tendency instilled deep within us, often below our consciousness, to consider the person who is different as a threat to our livelihood. They are “strangers”. Their ways are strange to us and we would just as soon keep them at arm’s length if not avoid them altogether. When this is not possible, tensions become high often leading to violence.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to rise above our differences. As Saint Paul teaches us in his letters to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). All of us are created in God’s image and likeness. All of us have been redeemed by Jesus. Differences in language, skin color and diet do not change the fact that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. There is never any just reason to exclude others because they are different from us. As Christians, we embrace all people as our brothers and sisters.

This also extends to people of different faiths. Our world is made up of people of many diverse belief systems and styles of worship. There are even many variations of Christian belief. Sadly, though we all preach the power of love, we have often let our differences become an excuse for intolerance and persecution. As Christians, we should be ready to admit that too often people have used religion as a pretense for violence and war. We should always be ready to condemn acts of violence perpetrated in the name of religion. Most importantly, we should be eager to work together with people of other faiths to build a world that is more welcoming, tolerate, peaceful and just.

As Catholics, we have historic reasons for believing that Jesus Christ founded the Church and that, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we have preserved His teaching faithfully over the centuries. However, that does not mean that we believe that there is no truth to be found in other Christian denominations or faith traditions. That does not mean that we believe that the Holy Spirit only acts through Catholics. We see in today’s first reading and gospel that God has His own agenda. He works in and through whomever He pleases to ensure that His will is accomplished. While we would not go so far as saying that all religions are the same, it does mean that we have something to learn from Protestants, Buddhists, Muslims and, especially our elder brothers in the faith, the Jewish people.

In his apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis challenges all people to embrace a “culture of encounter”. He wants us to transform our current culture of hostility, suspicion and isolation into a culture which seeks cooperation, dialogue and friendship with people of different races, nationalities, political affiliations and religions. This is why we so often see Pope Francis reaching out to people of other faiths and people of no faith. He understands that if we do not work together our world will continue its descent into chaos. The “culture of encounter” he is calling us to build goes beyond merely co-existing. It means more than tolerating one another. Rather, it begins with recognizing the image and likeness of God in all our fellow human beings, loving them as our brothers and sisters and working together to build a truly just and peaceful society.

This culture of encounter is not something that governments can create and regulate through laws. Rather, it is up to us as individual believers to build it. It requires all of us going outside of our comfort zones to reach out a hand of friendship to those who are different from us. It means taking the risk of being rejected. It means looking the other way when others offend us. It means being quick both to apologize and to forgive. It means taking the risk of speaking honestly and openly. Though it is not comfortable, it is our duty as Christians to live out the gospel by reaching out to all people and working together for justice.

Jesus teaches us in today’s gospel, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” It is time for us to stop looking upon those who are different from us as enemies whether they be immigrants, people of different races or those of other faiths. It is time for us to stop considering them strangers and begin to embrace them as brothers and sisters. Then, as believers, we will be a model to all of society of how this world which is getting increasingly smaller can live peacefully through faith in God who created all of us in His image and likeness.

Submitting To One Another In Love

What is the opposite of love? Is it hate? Is it apathy or indifference?

Pope John Paul II in his book, Love and Responsibility, has an interesting answer to the question. Unlike what we might normally think, the opposite of love is not hate or indifference. Rather, the opposite of loving others is using them.

Any of us who have had the heart-wrenching experience of having been used by another person know how true the Holy Father’s words are. Those who use us do immensely more damage than those who merely hate us. We let such people into our lives because we believed they loved us and wanted to be our friend. We trusted them and may have even shared intimate secrets with them. But when they got from us everything we could give them, they abandoned us leaving us feeling cheap and useless. We feel like fools for ever believing that they were really our friends. Going forward, we find it difficult to ever trust someone again. If they had just hated us rather than used us, they would have done far less damage to our psyches.

When we use others, we treat them as mere objects. We are saying to them that their needs and desires are not as important as our own. We are telling them that their only value lies in what they can do for us. The minute they are no longer useful to us or begin making demands of us, we drop them and move on to our next victim.

How different love is! When we love someone - whether it be a friend or a spouse - we treat him or her as a unique individual full dignity and value.  We accept them for their strengths and their weaknesses. We are by their side in good times and bad. In our concern for their well-being, we often put their needs and interests before our own. Being with them and spending time together is all that we ask. Love always seeks the good of the other even when it is difficult or painful.

Today’s second reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is one of the most difficult readings in all of Scripture for our modern culture to hear - “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” It seems to go against the grain of our ideas about the equal dignity and value of both women and men. Furthermore, the passage has been misused in the past to keep women in harmful and abusive relationships. However, if we read these words in the light of Pope John Paul II’s words and our reflection on the true meaning of love, Saint Paul’s teaching becomes clearer to us.

By being subordinate to each other - by putting the needs and concerns of the other before our own - we make sure that we are never in a position to use the other person. Our submission in love to one another - both the wife for the husband and the husband toward the wife - ensures that we are not in a relationship only to benefit ourselves - to get what we want out of the other person - but that we are really seeking his or her good even when it means sacrifice on our part.

We should also remember that Saint Paul’s words are directed not only to the wife but to the husband: “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.” In fact, his words are even stronger for husbands. While he tells wives that they should be subordinate to their husbands, he tells husbands that they should love their wives as Christ loved the Church. And how did Christ love the Church? He died for it. Just so, men should be willing to lay down their lives for their wives.

What does that mean in practical terms? It means taking the time to listen even if it means turning off the TV. It means emptying the dishwasher without being asked or not groaning when the wife points out repairs that are needed in the house. It means going out when we feel like just staying in. Men are often tempted not to do such things because they seem small and insignificant. But to women, these small actions show that we are paying attention to them and attending to their needs.

Though Saint Paul’s words are directed to married couples, they still hold meaning for those of us who may not be married or who are not planning on getting married. In all our relationships we should be practicing love and avoiding using others. By so doing, we imitate Jesus who gave His life up for us. If we can put the needs and concerns of our family members and friends ahead of our own now, it will come more naturally to us later on if we do get married.

We are naturally selfish people. It is not easy for us to put others first. That is where Jesus comes in. He gives us the strength to forget ourselves in service to others through the inspiration of His word and by His Body which He offers to nourish us. When the needs of our loved ones become difficult to bear, when we are tempted to abandon them, we should first turn to Jesus in prayer and ask Him for the strength to carry on. He will not fail to give it to us because, like a good friend, He always puts our needs and concerns ahead of His own.

Reflecting The Compassion Of God

About half of the New Testament is made up of the letters of Saint Paul. Unlike those written by Saint James, Saint John and Saint Peter, Saint Paul's letters are addressed to specific Christian communities in the areas that are now Turkey, Greece and Italy. In effect, the letters to the Romans, the Galatians, the Corinthians and others are written to communities which we today would call "parishes" to instruct them on the mystery of Christ and how they might live the faith they have received in a fuller and richer way.

Our second reading today is taken from Saint Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was an important seaport city with a rich diversity of people, and like the city, the church there was made up of people of very different backgrounds. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Ephesus was one of the earliest Christian communities to be established after Pentecost and that there were even disciples of John the Baptist there. Nonetheless, like the parishes of our own day, it was a church that suffered many divisions, a community torn apart by conflict among its different groups. We can tell by the words Saint Paul uses in today's reading that their gatherings were marked by shouting, fury and anger. Someone looking in from the outside would not recognize them to be a church marked by the love of Christ. And so one of the purposes of Paul's letter is to remind them that loving Christ means also loving our neighbor and that our worship of the living God is useless if it is not making us kind, compassionate and mutually forgiving. 

Today's reading gives us as a parish an opportunity to ask ourselves whether we are a community marked by the love of Christ. Are we a reflection of the compassion of God or are we here to meet our obligation and go home? These are important questions because our success as a parish depends not on how much money we raise or on how many children we graduate from our religious education program but on how we imitate the love, compassion and forgiveness of the God we worship. 

Every parish, like every family, suffers from infighting, jealousy and gossiping. We cannot claim to be any different. To the extent that each of us participates in it or allows others to participate in it, we are all to blame. The root cause of any divisions in our parish is really our unwillingness to forgive. We work closely together as a parish community, and it is inevitable that someone is going to say something thoughtless which will hurt our feelings. There are times when we will feel that our work is taken for granted and not appreciated. Or there are people who for whatever reason just get under our skin. As long as we are a parish made up of human beings, we will offend each other from time to time. By holding on to our grudges, however, we are only allowing bitterness to take hold of our hearts and poison our community. When we are unwilling to forgive, we give the person who hurt us power to steal our inner peace and hinder our relationship with God. It is imperative that each one of us forgive one other from the heart for our own sakes and for the sake of our parish community. Only then will our worship be pleasing to our heavenly Father who has so richly forgiven us in Christ.

If we are to grow as a community which models the love and compassion of Jesus, then we must also be a welcoming community. Everyone should feel as though they have a place at the table with us - the poor man, the homeless, the immigrant, the sinner and the saint. Jesus tells us in today's gospel that no one comes to him unless he is drawn by the Father. Do we accept and welcome those who are drawn to our community by the Spirit? Do we marshal their gifts and talents in service of the gospel? Can we look around this church and recognize God at work in each of us so that we are not just a nameless bunch of people but a community of faith and love called together by the Spirit? Our answer to these questions will determine just how effectively we are living the gospel message.

The story is told of a priest stationed at a parish in a popular beach resort area. There was a strong community of year round parishioners who served the parish well. However, during the summer months, the number of parishioners would swell with those who had seasonal residences in the area and tourists. One Saturday afternoon, a young man walked into the church for Mass straight off the beach with just a bathing suit on and a towel draped over his shoulder - no shirt, no shoes and his long, dirty blond hair still dripping wet. He walked straight up the center aisle and sat on the floor in front of the first row of pews. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.  The priest was about to send an altar boy over to invite him to at least sit in a pew, when one of the oldest members of the parish got up to approach the young man. Everyone in the church started to tense up as they expected the older man to scold the young man for being inappropriately dressed for Mass. But instead, the older man walked over and sat on the floor next to the younger man. The whole church burst into applause and laughter at what was so obvious a display of the all-embracing love of our heavenly Father.

I'm not suggesting that we should encourage people to come to Mass in bathing suits! But just such a welcoming spirit is required of us if we are to grow as a community marked by the presence of Christ.

We gather in this place today to worship a God who sent his only Son to die for us. We gather at this table to receive the living bread come down from heaven. Each of us is  drawn hear by our heavenly Father and called to be a reflection of his love, compassion and forgiveness. By putting away our bitterness, jealousy and grudges we can become a community of believers wherein each person feels welcomed and challenged by the gospel message. It is the life that we are called to as followers of Christ.