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Exploring the word

04 Nov 2012 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The old parlor game asks: If you knew you were going to die tonight, what would you do today? Variations abound. If you found out you had an incurable disease, which decisions would you make now that you’ve been putting off? If you had one last chance to say or do something for the people you care about, what would it be? If the world were going to end next week, how would you fill (or empty) this week’s calendar? We can add: If you had the chance to shape the future of the world this week, for whom or what would you cast your ballot? Yes, it’s another Election Day on Tuesday, and as always there’s a lot for thoughtful people to consider. The main question is this: What criteria do we Christians use in discerning and shaping our future? How do faithful people choose? Your answer to all these questions of ultimate concern should be the same: Love. That’s not a hippie reply, though even some churchgoers may be tempted to bat it away with impatience as such. Love sounds vague and mushy but only because we live in an age when love stories have been reduced to rushed escapades of sexual attraction and indulgence. Real love stories take more time and require more investment and not a little sacrifice. It’s not a matter of boy-meets-girl but human-need-meets-divinely-ordained-response. When an educated man came to Jesus with a question of ultimate concern such as those listed above—if you had to govern your life according to one commandment, which would it be?—Jesus did not hesitate to respond with love. He certainly didn’t mean romance, and he intended nothing vague or mushy at all. Jesus spelled out in great detail what he meant by love in his ministry and teachings. Care for the stranger, widow, child, and the poor. Heal human misery, rid society of its demons. Feed the hungry, give your clothes to the naked. Welcome the outsider, forgive the sinner. Befriend your enemy. Refuse to participate in the ways of violence. Stay close to God, the source of love, in prayer and obedient listening. Do you have any doubt as to how to do that? If you’re clear that your primary allegiance is to God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, you’ll know how to live, choose, value, and vote. Some religious groups will pass out preselected voting cards, but for those who attend to the gospel, that is unnecessary. Your process is: pray, listen, love, choose—it’s the same procedure you’re obliged to follow in every hour of your life and in every interaction. If you would shape the future as God would have it, the only method is love. Related scripture links Gospel parallel: Matt. 22:34-40 Love your neighbor: Lev. 19:18; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8 Other words on love: John 3:16; 13:34-35; Rom. 13:10; 1 Cor. 13:1-13 Catechism links Shema’ teachings: CCC 200-202; 228; 368; 459; 575; 2055; 2083; 2093-2094; 2196

Authors Alice Camille

Love care forgive choice love your neighbor

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Exploring the word

23 Oct 2011 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Life is complicated, but religion doesn’t have to be. If you can’t recite the Ten Commandments, list the nine Choirs of Angels, explain the reason we have Octaves, name the seven Capital Sins—or the six Precepts of the Church, five books of the Pentateuch, four gospel Evangelists, three major prophets, what was made on the second day of Creation, or know why there’s a partridge in the doggone pear tree at Christmastime, it’s OK! The salvation of your immortal soul doesn’t depend on the acquisition of a lot of information. What it all comes down to, according to Jesus, is quite simple: Love God, and love one another. If we do that, the rest of the details take care of themselves. That isn’t to diss the catechetical ministry, upon which some of us, including me, make our bread and butter. Education is helpful in every aspect of life, and religious education enriches us for the tasks of our lives by enlarging our understanding. Learning feeds the heart and soul as well as the mind, which in turn equips us for the task of loving. It’s all good. But nobody flunks Christianity 101 by not being able to list all 20 mysteries of the Rosary on short notice. (I’m usually stuck on at least two myself, and I wrote a book about them.) Religion isn’t a memory game, and the final exam, if you remember Matthew 25, doesn’t include data retrieval of any kind (with regrets to your Confirmation teacher). By the time we get to Judgment Day we discover we’ve already handed in our work. And the work, as it happens, exclusively involves how much and in how many ways we’ve shared our love. Jesus wasn’t tossing a game-changer at the scholar who questioned him. The law of God was always about love, if we paid attention to the passage from Exodus—or just about any passage of the law and prophets. These “new” commandments merely summarize and abbreviate all that’s gone before, Jesus says. In John’s gospel, of course, Jesus further distills the teaching to one command: Love one another. He’s not eliminating the obligation to love God but acknowledging that the way God wants to be loved is through demonstrations of care for each other. We live on a small planet, as we’re beginning to appreciate in this century as never before. There’s no room for hate on this little world of ours, nor indifference to the plight of anyone, no matter how different or far away. How much less, then, can we afford to turn our hearts from the people closest to us: spouses, family members, fellow parishioners, neighbors, coworkers, fellow citizens, and resident noncitizens. Love is what we’re here for. Let’s get to work. Related scripture links Loving the law: Deut. 6:4-6; Ps. 1:1-3; Ps. 119; Sir. 39:1-11; Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:26-27; Heb. 10:16 Love God unreservedly: Deut. 6:5 Love your neighbor as yourself: Lev. 19:18 Love God with your strength, too: Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 Catechism links Sins against the neighbor: CCC 1867 The Decalogue: CCC 707-710; 1961-1964; 2056-2074 Jesus and the law: CCC 577-582; 1824; 1965-1974 The Great Commandment: CCC 2052-2055; 2083

Authors Alice Camille

religious education love god judgment day love your neighbor law of god

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Homily stories

23 Oct 2011 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

A major hotel chain was doing extensive testing of its customers' satisfaction with the hotel. Repeatedly, one particular hotel in the chain scored highest. Upon further investigation they discovered that the employees who dealt with the customers rarely consulted the extensive manual on customer service procedures. As one happy employee put it, "Our boss just told us to listen to the customers and treat them like we would want to be treated." Manuals have their place and can come in handy. But the most important consideration, whether in customer service or living out our faith, is a question of the heart. If our hearts are in the right place--loving God and loving our neighbors--we'll know just what to do.

Service love god love your neighbor

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Exploring the word

11 Jul 2010 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

MERCY IS IN danger of becoming an antique word. We live in a tough world where cynicism is the protective wrapping around many hearts. Hostility toward the enemy and suspicion of the stranger are the norm. Our bitterly partisan culture encourages us to be vitriolic toward competing ideas and those who hold them. It's acceptable and even fashionable to be rude, self-promoting, and other-denying. The more hysterical the public rhetoric is, the farther it travels and the more popular it becomes. We must oppose this trend. Christians can't afford to toss their hats in the ring with intolerance, arrogance, and downright cruelty. When hysteria rules, we must remain good stewards of our words and emotions and where they lead us. Spraying unbridled passion about self-indulgently is incompatible with the baptismal vocation. We're called to surrender our lives for others, not trample them underfoot if they oppose our point of view. Why is that important? Because demonstrating mercy toward the neighbor is an imperative of our faith. Eternal life hangs in the balance when we choose to exercise or deny compassion. The great commandment obliges us to love God and neighbor. And if we want to quibble about the definition of neighbor, we only have to listen to the parable of the Good Samaritan again. Good Samaritan has become a metaphor for do-gooding; that's unfortunate. The Good Samaritan is not a philanthropist spreading money around on his favorite causes. No, the Samaritan is not a charitable guy in the traditional sense. He's a brave man who crosses clear social lines to rescue the wrong person: his enemy. A man who hates him. A man to whom he owes nothing, neither kindness nor sustenance. Chances are the fellow in the gutter would have let the Samaritan bleed to death had the roles been reversed. The Samaritan doesn't weigh that probability very heavily when making the decision to help. Most of us can't get our minds around what the Samaritan does because we can't even offer an ideological opponent common courtesy, never mind spending time, money, and genuine compassion on the suffering of a perceived foe. We have little practice with sympathy, much less empathy. The modern model is to be sarcastic, distant, and unconcerned. "Not my problem, not my job" is the mantra. Many of us don't even want to hear about the plight of undocumented immigrants, or gay bashing, or the intimidation of American Muslims, or the continued effect of racism and sexism, even when it operates in our church assemblies. The Good Samaritan remains a rather lonely fellow. Yet the advice of Jesus is plain: "Go and do likewise." Related scripture links Written on hearts of flesh: Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 11:19-2, 36:26-27 We are God's letter: 2 Cor. 3:2-3 The word dwells in us: Phil. 3:16 You shall love the Lord and your neighbor: Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5, 10:12 Catechism links Mercy: CCC 1822; 1825; 1829; 2083; 2447; 2822

Authors Alice Camille

great commandment love your neighbor Good Samaritan

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Homily stories

11 Jul 2010 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Ways to love God: Listen intently Laugh wholeheartedly Don't settle for less when it comes to justice Ways to love your neighbor: Say yes without hesitation when someone asks you a favor Assume another's best intentions Ask respectful questions and give honest answers Ways to love yourself: Accept God's love Acknowledge your pain Recall your joy

love your neighbor god' love joy

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Homily stories

04 Nov 2012 - Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Like the people in Jesus’ time, we have heard the commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength many times. The question is: “What does that mean exactly?” In the midst of commuting to and from work, working, preparing meals, raking the lawn, putting up storm windows (if anyone does that anymore), what would our lives look like if we were even partially successful at following this commandment? It turns out that the answer is in the second commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Or, as the Jesuit scientist Father Teilhard de Chardin put it, “The way we treat people is the way we treat God.” We love God by loving others. This fall, author Lois Lowry published a book titled Son, the last in The Giver Quartet series. The story is about a boy who has a magical talent called the “veer,” which allows him to see the world through another person’s perspective and feel what they feel. Luckily for us, “veer” is not really a magical talent. It’s another word for the very human power of empathy, and something we all have. Magic happens when we use it.

Authors Ann O'Connor

empathy love your neighbor Teilhard de Chardin Commandments

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Homily stories

13 May 2012 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

We could all use a little more love. Wars, conflicts, fights, and feuds abound in our world, churches, communities, and homes. It is a scandal how little effort much of humanity and most individual humans put into loving one another. We don’t have to agree with one another; we don’t even have to like one another, but we must love one another if we are to remain in God, who is love. How can we love those whom we see as our enemies–opposed to the fundamental truths we hold dear? Saint Francis de Sales, a Doctor of the church, who lived during the trying times of the Reformation, offers this advice in his Treatise on the Love of God: When we see a neighbour who is created to the image and likeness of God, . . . should we not bless him a thousand and a thousand times? And why? For the love of him? No verily: for we know not whether he be worthy of love or hatred in himself; but wherefore then? For the love of God, who has made him to his own image and likeness, and consequently capable of participating in his goodness, in grace and in glory. For the love of God, I say, from whom he is, whose he is, by whom he is, in whom he is, for whom he is, and whom he resembles in a most particular manner.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

Love love your neighbor love your enemies

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Homily stories

23 Oct 2011 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

The greatest commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind doesn't really need a second commandment to follow it. But Jesus offers one about loving your neighbor as yourself. Why? If the first-century Jews were anything like us, they didn't really have a clue what it means to love God. Not sure how to love God? Start with yourself. Learn to love yourself; then love your neighbor as yourself. Work on that for a while, and you'll get the hang of loving God. In case you haven't realized it: That second commandment--nevermind the first--is way harder than Jesus makes it sound. By late middle age, most of us will barely figure out how to love ourselves, so our neighbors are definitely going to get shortchanged. But before you figure this love stuff is a hopeless cause, remember that a big part of faith is acting as if something were true. You may not have mastered self-love, but act as if you are a loveable, loving person. Try to do at least one thing in your day that a person with a healthy sense of self-respect and self-worth would do. Then act as if you feel love toward your neighbors. At least once during the day, try exercising patience and understanding toward others for actions that would normally set you off. Follow Saint Paul's advice and become an imitator of true Christians, and you just may find yourself with a whole lot of love someday.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

love god commandment love your neighbor Saint Paul

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Who's listening?

11 Jul 2010 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

It’s both a challenging and a comforting, even an intimate message: The word is near; the commandments of God are already in your mouths and written on your hearts. All you have to do is carry them out. Love your neighbor. Show mercy. People in the assembly may need to feel God’s nearness. They are lost and disconnected from God’s touch. Others feel very close and want to celebrate that connection. Today’s readings tell us all any of us will ever need to know: God is with us. Love God with everything in you. Love your neighbor as yourself.

commandment love your neighbor

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Homily stories

11 Jul 2010 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

WHO WAS the Good Samaritan? We don't know for sure, but it is clear that he was a layperson, not a religious professional. In fact, it is probable that he was some sort of businessperson-for why else would he be on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho early in the morning, just happen to have oil and wine with him, be able to pay the innkeeper to take care of the victim, and promise to return on his "way back"? In other words, the Good Samaritan was in the midst of doing his job when he was asked to be a good neighbor. What the Good Samaritan did was simple: He saw someone in need; he stopped and did what he could. Acting like the Good Samaritan is simply what you do if you are a follower of Jesus. Jesus told the rest of us to "go and do likewise." That is the essence of the Christian vocation. Where do you find your vocation? You find it in the midst of what you are doing.

Authors Gregory F. Augustine Pierce

Vocation neighbor love your neighbor

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