Love Your Enemies

                                               7th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Today's gospel continues St. Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount which we began last week. Here we encounter Jesus's famous command to "love your enemies." Perhaps this is the reason the Church gives us the story of David and King Saul in today's first reading.

The movies have distorted our vision of Bible history. In most Hollywood biblical epics the characters all look so noble. They wear flowing robes or tunics, live in gorgeous palaces, and speak with beautiful English accents. For today's episode, set as it is in the desert of Ziph, it would be better if we tried to imagine ourselves in an American western or in one of the Italian Spaghetti westerns. 

King Saul, the King or Chief of the Israeli tribe, has led his warriors out into the desert in pursuit of the upstart warrior, David. The old king is envious of David's victories in battle and his growing popularity within the tribe, and he has set out to capture and kill him. After Saul and his men pitch camp for the night, David and his right hand man, Abishai, evade the sentries and enter the Israeli camp.

The two find Saul sleeping and Abishai urges David to take advantage of the opportunity, "Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear..." Now all you have to do is glance through the rest of the Book of Samuel to see that David is no pacifist. He is a warrior who never shrinks from killing. Yet in this case he draws back--"for who can lay hands on the Lord's anointed and remain unpunished." Anointing with holy oils was the sign that the King had been chosen by God, that the King was in fact God's representative on earth. David seems motivated here more by fear of the Lord than by love of his enemy. 

Let's turn now to the gospel passage where Jesus is seemingly once again being so impractical. How unnatural He sounds. Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give your tunic as well as your cloak, do not demand repayment, lend money without expecting repayment. But is it so impractical? Let's look at some examples from our own daily life especially since we are about to enter the season of Lent. Maybe the Sermon on the Mount contains some things that we can do right now. 

First, what about love our enemies? Now we don't have to look to Russia or China to find enemies. Our enemies are right here in our midst. Children, how many times have you fought with your own brother or sister in the last week? How many fights have you had about who sits where in the family car? It's good to give up candy for Lent but it would be even better to give up selfishness and share with your brothers and sisters.

As we get older this advice is even more important. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. In fact what family could function well unless if follows this advice. Husbands and wives who hold anything back in their relationship are doomed to failure. Is this the reason why so many marriages fail today? For Lent let's resolve to intensify our love. Let's bring the spirit of St. Valentine's day into Lent.

In athletics how often do we read of selfish stars who refuse to help their less talented teammates. This selfishness starts even in little league. When I was a softball coach I learned that sooner or later the ball would be hit to the worst fielder on the team and usually at a crucial time. The teammate that we fail to help could cost us a championship. Really, isn't our Lord saying that hatred and anger hurt us more than the people we hate. I knew a man who never forgave his sister for failing to pay back a small debt. Who was hurt? What good did his grudge do for him? How many of us have not spoken with our own brothers and sisters for years over some trivial slight? The best thing that we could do this Lenten season would be to get on the phone and just say hello.

Our Lord promises us that if we act miserably, we will be miserable. If we act generously, we will become generous. He has said that His yoke is easy and His burden light. Look how he let's us off the hook and opens up the way to happiness: Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. He isn't naive or impractical. He knew that workers were paid in those days by filling their aprons with grain. Bosses liked to get away with filling the aprons loosely because packing it down and shaking the air out would benefit the workers.

As St. Paul says in the second reading, we all bear the image of the earthly Adam, but our Lord Himself is the heavenly Adam and if we choose, we shall also bear His image. Let's make sure that this Lent we do not take the spear and nail the Lord's Anointed One to the Cross.

###

Reading 1. 1 Samuel 26: 2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23

 Reading II. I Corinthians 15: 45-49

 Gospel. Luke 6: 27-38 (Love your enemies)

Love One Another

                  6th Sunday of Easter

                  B cycle

 

 

 

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles contains one of the most important passages in all of Holy Scripture. The Roman centurion Cornelius, a Gentile but a god-fearing man, had sent messengers to summon Peter to his house. Before the messengers arrived Peter had a vision in which God had shown him that no one, whatever their race or nation, could be called unclean or unworthy. When Peter arrived at the home of Cornelius, he realized that the vision had meant that he could share a meal with a non-Jewish person. He says,

 

In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.

Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly

Is acceptable to him.

 

Is that all there is to it? Do we just have to fear God and act uprightly? What does it mean to fear God? Maybe, respect is a better word. But how do we respect God and act uprightly?  Today’s gospel provides the answer. This passage is taken from the last words of Jesus to his disciples before his Passion and Death. Last week, he referred to Himself as the vine and told us to remain attached to Him like the branches of the vine. This week he tells us that the way to remain attached to Him is to keep his commandments. 

 

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

And remain in his love.

 

Ordinarily, we don’t like commandments. We get our backs up at a long list of do’s and don’ts. But the commandment of Jesus seems remarkably simple.

 

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,

To lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

 

It is true that Jesus is predicting his own suffering and death in this passage but I don’t think he is saying that we all have to suffer a cruel persecution like so many Christian martyrs suffer even in our own time. He is saying that his disciples will have to lead a life of selflessness, not selfishness. If we want to love Him, we will have to love one another. Throughout the gospels Jesus deflects our love away from himself to our neighbor. All four of our gospels can be traced back to those who had a direct contact with Jesus, and they all understood that the message of the risen Lord was Love.

 

 

In today’s second reading St. John says,

 

Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

 

He doesn’t say that God loves us or that we ought to love God, but that God is Love. I think that so many people today reject even the idea of God because they  can only imagine an angry old man hurling thunderbolts at poor humans below. Also, in our scientific age they can’t see God, they can’t feel, or hear, or measure or count Him. He is beyond the experience of our senses.

 

But what if we could wrap ourselves around the idea of Love being God? We can’t see, or hear, or measure love but who doubts its existence? Who, but some very unhappy people, would ever admit that they don’t believe in Love?

 

Atheists say that they do not believe in God but I believe that most atheists believe in Love as much as anyone. Everyone wants to love and be loved. Most of our songs are about love. Songwriters and poets attribute to Love all the characteristics that theologians attribute to God. For example, Love is in the air, Love rules the world, or Love is here to stay. They even speak of everlasting and eternal Love. * 

 

In today’s second reading from the first letter of John we are again told that to fear God and live uprightly means simply to love one another, especially those entrusted to our care.

 

Beloved, let us love one another,

Because love is of God…

 

###

*Note: Listen to the lyrics of the great Gershwin song, Love Walked In.

Reading 1. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48

Reading II. I John 4: 7-10

Gospel. John 15: 9-17 (love one another) 

Teaching with Authority

                       4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                      B cycle

 

 

In today’s first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people that the Lord will one day bring them a Messiah, a new Prophet,

 

       I will raise up for them a prophet like you…

       And will put my words into his mouth;

       He shall tell them all that I command him.

 

In other words this new Prophet will speak with the authority of God, Himself. Sure enough in today’s gospel we see Jesus, at the outset of his public life, impressing the people in the synagogue at Capernaum as one speaking with authority. This passage in Mark’s gospel comes right after last week’s account of the calling of the first Apostles. 

 

You may remember that last week Jesus called the brothers Andrew and Peter, and then James and John, the sons of the fisherman Zebedee. Jesus had met these fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and archaeologists have discovered ruins of an ancient synagogue at the seaside city of Capernaum.

 

What does it mean to speak with authority? Scholars tell us that it might refer to the methods used by the ancient scribes. Whenever they were asked for an opinion on some issue, it was their practice to search their books for the opinions of learned rabbis. Typically, there would be many opinions that had to be reconciled. Sometimes the opinions would even be contradictory. Sometimes this method could even provide loopholes that could allow any kind of behavior.

 

Doesn’t this sound terribly familiar to us today? Look at our cable talk shows. People literally screaming at each other-- some arguing that white is black, or black is white, or that their particular shade of gray is the only correct one.  We have come to expect “spin” from any political or social commentator. During our political campaigns didn’t we wait to hear the supporters of each candidate provide their spin immediately following each debate? 

 

What we see in the media reflects what goes on in society. In politics it seems that corruption has become the normal way of doing business. What authority can a governor or mayor have whose been caught with hands in the cookie jar of bribery or payoffs? Only a fool would listen to their words or be guided by them. In business it’s much the same. Even in sports and entertainment we should know better than to trust the words of celebrities whose words are often belied by their private lives.

 

There’s an old saying that “It’s not enough to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.” Some examples. I once heard of a business owner who developed a unique plan to save his company when it got into financial trouble. He cut his own salary and the salary of the top third of his employees by 15%. The middle third were cut 10% and the bottom third 5%. This action saved the company without anyone losing their job. This owner spoke with real authority. I knew a sales manager who would never ask his salespeople to do anything that he was reluctant to do himself. He led by example, not by words.

 

One of the greatest coaches of all time was John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach of UCLA when they won 4 national championships in a row. Never would you see him jumping off the bench yelling at his players as so many do. He must have realized that if his team was not prepared, it was his fault, not theirs.

 

In today’s gospel St. Mark says that the people were astounded at the teaching of Jesus for “he taught them as one having authority.” Nevertheless, there was someone there who questioned his authority as many do today,

 

       What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

       Have you come to destroy us?

 

In our Missal we translate the answer of Jesus as, “Quiet,” but it literally means be “muzzled.” He then cures the man as He often did to show that His teaching had authority, an authority that sprang from who He was. He would not agree with those people today who say that their private lives can be separated from their public lives. If parents neglect their children, will they care for their clients? If politicians lie to their spouses, will they tell the truth to their constituents? People speak with authority if they possess real personal integrity. 

 

Certainly, the people of Corinth thought that St. Paul spoke with authority. Today, we have a somewhat difficult to understand excerpt from the seventh chapter of his famous letter to the Corinthians. If we read the whole chapter, we would see that he had been asked to advise them on some difficult matters of personal behavior. He admits that he can find no specific rule or commandment in most of these matters and only offers what he calls his own opinion.

 

In general, he urges the converts to remain in their current situation and work within to achieve the kingdom of God. It is not a question of whether you're married or unmarried, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, male or female. You can do the work of God in any station in life. That’s speaking with authority. For Paul, love transcends all.

 

       Love is patient, love is kind.

       It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

       it is not inflated, it is not rude,

       it does not seek its own interests,

       it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

       it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

       but rejoices with the truth.

       It bears all things, believes all things,

       hopes all things, endures all things.

 

###

Reading 1. Deuteronomy 18: 15-20

Reading II. I Corinthians 7:32-35

Gospel. Mark 1: 21-28 (teaching with authority).

Love Walked In *

                   4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  C cycle

 

 

Today's first reading is from the beginning of the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. It is Jeremiah's call to be a prophet:

 

      But do you gird your loins;

      stand up and tell them

      all that I command you.

 

Jeremiah is going to be a prophet not in the sense that he is going to foretell the future but in the sense that he is going to remind the people of their past and their covenant with God, and bring them back into a true relationship with their God. How often have they forgotten that they are a chosen people, a people with a mission to bring all the nations to God. Jeremiah is warned that it will not be an easy task. His own people, Judah's kings and princes, priests and people, will fight against him.

. 

This reading sets the scene for the continuation of Luke's gospel account of the return of Jesus to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth which we began last week. The first verse of today's gospel reading actually repeats the ending of last week's reading. Remember, Jesus had read a passage from Isaiah about the Lord's anointed or chosen one and then said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

 

Today's reading gives us the peoples' reaction. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, urged his followers to try to visualize the scenes of the gospel, even see them in their minds as if they were part of the scene itself. Let's put ourselves in this scene. We're in the church, we're impressed with the eloquent words of Jesus but then we remember that He is only  one of us. "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  Maybe we're thinking, "Wait a minute, who does this guy think he is?"

 

Jesus hears and says, "no prophet is accepted in his own native place." More than that, he tells us that in the past other prophets had been rejected by us, and could only do their healing among foreigners, even enemies. "There were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." Israel, Syria, the names are still with us today in the most strife torn region of the world. Naaman himself was a Syrian warlord. 

 

OK, we're still in the scene and we can imagine our reaction. "When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury." We surge along with the crowd as we drive Him to the outskirts of the little hill town to throw Him over a cliff. However, He passes through our midst and goes away, leaving His home town of Nazareth behind.

 

St. Paul himself was no stranger to angry mobs. Before his conversion he had participated in the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr. He was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians there when he encountered the risen Christ and received his own call to prophesy--to bring the gospel to all nations. In today's second reading we find that he is finding it no easier than Jeremiah. 

 

He had established a Christian community in the leading Greek city of Corinth but after leaving them to continue on his missionary journeys, he has heard that they have begun to bicker among themselves. In the last two weeks we got a sense of what they were arguing about. Some felt that they were better than others--that they had received greater spiritual gifts. Christians of Jewish or Greek ancestry could not put away their traditional hostility to each other. So Paul has had to remind them that all our gifts or abilities come from Christ, that we all are part of His Mystical Body, and that we all have a role to play in the mission of Christ.

 

Even today there are many who don't like Paul especially when he tells women to be silent in Church or reminds them to be subservient to their husbands. We'll have to talk about those remarks some other day but for now it is enough to say that the same Paul wrote in today's reading the most beautiful and eloquent words that have ever been written on the subject of Love. *

 

We're in the season of love, the time of the year when we celebrate St. Valentine's day.  We know that our culture today has cheapened and debased the gift of love. We only have to watch TV to see that our culture is seeking after the lesser gifts. Paul tells us to "strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." He boils them down to three:

 

      So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

      but the greatest of these is love."

 

What is love?

 

      Love is patient, love is kind.

      It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

      it is not inflated, it is not rude,

      it does not seek its own interests,

      it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

      it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

      but rejoices with the truth.

      It bears all things, believes all things,

      hopes all things, endures all things.

 

Let's hope that we don't share the fate of the crowd at Nazareth when Love "passed through the midst of them and went away."

###

*Note: The readings today always remind me of the great Gershwin song, "Love Walked In." Here is a link to a version by Chris Conner, or view the short video below.

Reading 1. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 31--13:13

Gospel. Luke 4: 21-30  (the son of Joseph?)

Teaching with Authority

                       4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                     

 

In today’s first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people that the Lord will one day bring them a Messiah, a new Prophet,

 

       I will raise up for them a prophet like you…

       And will put my words into his mouth;

       He shall tell them all that I command him.

 

In other words this new Prophet will speak with the authority of God, Himself. Sure enough in today’s gospel we see Jesus, at the outset of his public life, impressing the people in the synagogue at Capernaum as one speaking with authority. This passage in Mark’s gospel comes right after last week’s account of the calling of the first Apostles. 

 

You may remember that last week Jesus called the brothers Andrew and Peter, and then James and John, the sons of the fisherman Zebedee. Jesus had met these fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and archaeologists have discovered ruins of an ancient synagogue at the seaside city of Capernaum.

 

What does it mean to speak with authority? Scholars tell us that it might refer to the methods used by the ancient scribes. Whenever they were asked for an opinion on some issue, it was their practice to search their books for the opinions of learned rabbis. Typically, there would be many opinions that had to be reconciled. Sometimes the opinions would even be contradictory. Sometimes this method could even provide loopholes that could allow any kind of behavior.

 

Doesn’t this sound terribly familiar to us today? Look at our cable talk shows. People literally screaming at each other-- some arguing that white is black, or black is white, or that their particular shade of gray is the only correct one.  We have come to expect “spin” from any political or social commentator. During our political campaigns didn’t we wait to hear the supporters of each candidate provide their spin immediately following each debate? 

 

What we see in the media reflects what goes on in society. In politics it seems that corruption has become the normal way of doing business. What authority can a governor or mayor have whose been caught with hands in the cookie jar of bribery or payoffs? Only a fool would listen to their words or be guided by them. In business it’s much the same. Even in sports and entertainment we should know better than to trust the words of celebrities whose words are often belied by their private lives.

 

There’s an old saying that “It’s not enough to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.” Some examples. I once heard of a business owner who developed a unique plan to save his company when it got into financial trouble. He cut his own salary and the salary of the top third of his employees by 15%. The middle third were cut 10% and the bottom third 5%. This action saved the company without anyone losing their job. This owner spoke with real authority. I knew a sales manager who would never ask his salespeople to do anything that he was reluctant to do himself. He led by example, not by words.

 

One of the greatest coaches of all time was John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach of UCLA when they won 4 national championships in a row. Never would you see him jumping off the bench yelling at his players as so many do. He must have realized that if his team was not prepared, it was his fault, not theirs.

 

In today’s gospel St. Mark says that the people were astounded at the teaching of Jesus for “he taught them as one having authority.” Nevertheless, there was someone there who questioned his authority as many do today,

 

       What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

       Have you come to destroy us?

 

In our Missal we translate the answer of Jesus as, “Quiet,” but it literally means be “muzzled.” He then cures the man as He often did to show that His teaching had authority, an authority that sprang from who He was. He would not agree with those people today who say that their private lives can be separated from their public lives. If parents neglect their children, will they care for their clients? If politicians lie to their spouses, will they tell the truth to their constituents? People speak with authority if they possess real personal integrity. 

 

Certainly, the people of Corinth thought that St. Paul spoke with authority. Today, we have a somewhat difficult to understand excerpt from the seventh chapter of his famous letter to the Corinthians. If we read the whole chapter, we would see that he had been asked to advise them on some difficult matters of personal behavior. He admits that he can find no specific rule or commandment in most of these matters and only offers what he calls his own opinion.

 

In general, he urges the converts to remain in their current situation and work within to achieve the kingdom of God. It is not a question of whether your married or unmarried, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, male or female. You can do the work of God in any station in life. That’s speaking with authority. For Paul, love transcends all.

 

       Love is patient, love is kind.

       It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

       it is not inflated, it is not rude,

       it does not seek its own interests,

       it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

       it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

       but rejoices with the truth.

       It bears all things, believes all things,

       hopes all things, endures all things.

###

Reading 1. Deuteronomy 18: 15-20

Reading II. I Corinthians 7:32-35

Gospel. Mark 1: 21-28 (teaching with authority).

Keep My Commandments

                           6th Sunday of Easter

                           

Ascension Window
Assumption church
Fairfield CT

Today, as we celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we are turning a corner. Instead of looking back to the Resurrection, the readings are looking ahead to the departure of Jesus that we will celebrate this coming week on Ascension Thursday; and then the coming of the Holy Spirit in just two weeks on Pentecost Sunday.

The first reading relates the success of Philip in the conversion of many in the land of Samaria. Remember that Jesus had claimed that his disciples would be able to perform the same signs and miracles that he had done if they would preach in his Name. The crowds in Samaria listened and believed Philip because they “heard and saw the signs that he was doing.”

Philip was one of the new deacons who were appointed to assist the Apostles in their work. Philip’s success seemed to confirm the words of Jesus that his word would spread from Judea to Samaria and then to the ends of the world. On hearing the good news the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to investigate, pray, and confirm the new converts in their faith. In the account we witness one of the early instances of the sacrament of Confirmation. Peter and John “laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

At this time of the year successors of the first Apostles continue to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to young men and women all over the world. Most of the newly confirmed will be in their early teens, that often difficult period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It may be difficult for them to think that anything real has happened at Confirmation. After all, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and not a creature of flesh and blood. The Spirit is not accessible by our senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell.

How can they and we discover the Spirit in our lives? Maybe the answer can be found in today’s gospel reading. At the Last Supper Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In the next sentence he says that He will ask the Father to give them an Advocate, the Spirit of truth. In other words, the coming of the Spirit is linked with keeping the commandments.

Most of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that were given to the Hebrew people at the time of Moses. They included commands like honor thy father and mother; do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; and do not bear false witness. Jesus was certainly aware of these commandments but he insisted that one commandment was above them all. His command was simply to love one another. In another part of John’s gospel Jesus also commanded us to love one another in the same way that He loved us. In other words, He was urging us to seek a selfless and self-giving love.

I don’t think teenagers or anyone else today would object to this command. We all want to love and to be loved. We all need love, and someone to love. However, we all know that it is easy to turn our backs on love. It has always been easy to just think of ourselves, talk about ourselves, and do for ourselves. 

Love or charity puts the other commandments in a new light. It has often been said that charity begins at home but it might be better to say that it should begin at home. How often do we fail to honor our father and mother?  How often do we show anger and bitterness toward our brothers and sisters? How often do we take from them what is theirs? How often do we deceive the ones we should love the most?

We like to think that it is natural for us to love but we all need help. Where can we find it? 

In today’s gospel Jesus promised that he would not leave us alone.

“And I will ask the Father,

and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,

because it neither sees nor knows him.”

It is true that the Spirit will often come to us in ways we do not see or understand. It will most often come to us from those we love the most and who often love us the most. Even children eventually come to realize that the commands or rules imposed on them by parents come from love.

In today’s second reading St. Peter advises us to be prepared to defend our faith.

"Always be ready to give an explanation

To anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…"

Our reason for hope is that God is Love and that He has commanded us to love one another as He loved us. If some say there is no God, we say that God is love. If some say, we cannot believe in a God who allows such pain and suffering in the world, we say that during his time on earth Jesus worked to heal pain and suffering wherever he found it, and commanded us to follow his example out of love. At his Ascension He told us that the work of love was up to us but that His Spirit would always be there to assist us on the journey of love.

###

Reading 1.Acts 8: 5-8, 14-17

Reading II. 1 Peter 3: 15-18

Gospel. John 14: 15-21 (keep my commandments).

Love Walked In

                                    4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                                    

George Gershwin: Love Walked In *

Today's first reading is from the beginning of the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. It is Jeremiah's call to be a prophet:

            But do you gird your loins;

            stand up and tell them

            all that I command you.

Jeremiah is going to be a prophet not in the sense that he is going to foretell the future but in the sense that he is going to remind the people of their past and their covenant with God, and bring them back into a true relationship with their God. How often have they forgotten that they are a chosen people, a people with a mission to bring all the nations to God. Jeremiah is warned that it will not be an easy task. His own people, Judah's kings and princes, priests and people, will fight against him.

. 

This reading sets the scene for the continuation of Luke's gospel account of the return of Jesus to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth which we began last week. The first verse of today's gospel reading actually repeats the ending of last week's reading. Remember, Jesus had read a passage from Isaiah about the Lord's anointed or chosen one and then said, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

Today's reading gives us the peoples' reaction. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, urged his followers to try to visualize the scenes of the gospel, even see them in their minds as if they were part of the scene itself. Let's put ourselves in this scene. We're in the church, we're impressed with the eloquent words of Jesus but then we remember that He is only  one of us. "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"  Maybe we're thinking, "Wait a minute, who does this guy think he is?"

Jesus hears and says, "no prophet is accepted in his own native place." More than that he tells us that in the past other prophets had been rejected by us, and could only do their healing among foreigners, even enemies. "There were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." Israel, Syria, the names are still with us today in the most strife torn region of the world. Naaman himself was a Syrian warlord. 

OK, we're still in the scene and we can imagine our reaction. "When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury." We surge along with the crowd as we drive Him to the outskirts of the little hill town to throw Him over a cliff. However, He passes through our midst and goes away, leaving His home town of Nazareth behind.

St. Paul himself was no stranger to angry mobs. Before his conversion he had participated in the stoning of St. Stephen, the first martyr. He was on the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians there when he encountered the risen Christ and received his own call to prophesy--to bring the gospel to all nations. In today's second reading we find that he is finding it no easier than Jeremiah. 

He had established a Christian community in the leading Greek city of Corinth but after leaving them to continue on his missionary journeys, he has heard that they have begun to bicker among themselves. In the last two weeks we got a sense of what they were arguing about. Some felt that they were better than others--that they had received greater spiritual gifts. Christians of Jewish or Greek ancestry could not put away their traditional hostility to each other. So Paul has had to remind them that all our gifts or abilities come from Christ, that we all are part of His Mystical Body, and that we all have a role to play in the mission of Christ.

Even today there are many who don't like Paul especially when he tells women to be silent in Church or reminds them to be subservient to their husbands. We'll have to talk about those remarks some other day but for now it is enough to say that the same Paul wrote in today's reading the most beautiful and eloquent words that have ever been written on the subject of Love.

We're in the season of love, the time of the year when we celebrate St. Valentine's day.  We know that our culture today has cheapened and debased the gift of love. We only have to watch TV to see that our culture is seeking after the lesser gifts. Paul tells us to "strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." He boils them down to three:

            So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

            but the greatest of these is love."

What is love?

            Love is patient, love is kind.

            It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

            it is not inflated, it is not rude,

            it does not seek its own interests,

            it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

            it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

            but rejoices with the truth.

            It bears all things, believes all things,

            hopes all things, endures all things.

Let's hope that we don't share the fate of the crowd at Nazareth when Love "passed through the midst of them and went away."

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Reading 1. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19

Reading II. I Corinthians 12: 31--13:13

Gospel. Luke 4: 21-30 (the son of Joseph?)

* The lyrics of George Gershwin's romantic ballad, "Love Walked In" have a special relevance to today's readings. Click on this link for a fine rendition by legendary Jazz singer, Chris Connor. 

God is Love

                                    6th Sunday of Easter

                                   

Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles contains one of the most important passages in all of Holy Scripture. The Roman centurion Cornelius, a Gentile but a god-fearing man, had sent messengers to summon Peter to his house. Before the messengers arrived Peter had a vision in which God had shown him that no one, whatever their race or nation, could be called unclean or unworthy. When Peter arrived at the home of Cornelius, he realized that the vision had meant that he could share a meal with a non-Jewish person. He says,

In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.

Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly

Is acceptable to him.

Is that all there is to it? Do we just have to fear God and act uprightly? What does it mean to fear God? Maybe, respect is a better word. But how do we respect God and act uprightly?  Today’s gospel provides the answer. This passage is taken from the last words of Jesus to his disciples before his Passion and Death. Last week, he referred to Himself as the vine and told us to remain attached to Him like the branches of the vine. This week he tells us that the way to remain attached to Him is to keep his commandments.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

And remain in his love.

Ordinarily, we don’t like commandments. We get our backs up at a long list of do’s and don’ts. But the commandment of Jesus seems remarkably simple.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,

To lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

It is true that Jesus is predicting his own suffering and death in this passage but I don’t think he is saying that we all have to suffer a cruel persecution like so many Christian martyrs suffer even in our own time. He is saying that his disciples will have to lead a life of selflessness, not selfishness. If we want to love Him, we will have to love one another. Throughout the gospels Jesus deflects our love away from himself to our neighbor. All four of our gospels can be traced back to those who had a direct contact with Jesus, and they all understood that the message of the risen Lord was Love.

In today’s second reading St. John says, "Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love."

He doesn’t say that God loves us or that we ought to love God, but that God is Love. I think that so many people today reject even the idea of God because they still can only imagine an angry old man hurling thunderbolts at poor humans below. Also, in our scientific age they can’t see God, they can’t feel, or hear, or measure or count Him. He is beyond the experience of our senses.

But what if we could wrap ourselves around the idea of Love being God? We can’t see, or hear, or measure Love but who doubts its existence? Who, but some very unhappy people, would ever admit that they don’t believe in Love?

Atheists say that they do not believe in God but I believe that most atheists believe in Love as much as anyone. Everyone wants to love and be loved. Most of our songs are about love. Songwriters and poets attribute to Love all the characteristics that theologians attribute to God. For example, Love is in the air, Love rules the world, or Love is here to stay. They even speak of everlasting and eternal Love.

To fear God and live uprightly means simply to love one another, especially those entrusted to our care. The early Christians who St. John addressed in his letter would have understood the message.

Beloved, let us love one another,

Because love is of God…

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Reading 1. Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48

Reading II. I John 4: 7-10

Gospel. John 15: 9-17 (love one another)