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Sign & sacrament

26 Oct 2014 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Many people enshrine mottoes or slogans, often quoted from great women or men who seem to distill the very essence of what it means to lead a good life. The heart of Jesus’ famous answer about the “greatest commandment” would have been familiar to any of his contemporaries: “Love God” and “love your neighbor.” But Jesus’ genius and his challenge were to make them equivalent. Saint John reiterates Jesus’ Great Commandment by bluntly saying that if one claims to be a lover of God without loving one’s neighbor, one is simply a liar. From Jesus’ perspective, it just can’t be done.

Commandments loves

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Homily stories

10 May 2009 - Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

Certain memories remain vivid as years go by. One that stands out clearly in my mind is a memory of my wife sitting in a gold chair in the living room of our first house. It was the middle of the night and she was nursing our newborn daughter. They had not heard me, and I stood in the doorway watching them, moonlight spilling onto them from a window behind them. At church that morning we had sung the words of Jesus, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Remain in me and you shall be fruitful.” I thought of that image of the vine and the branches, and what a revolutionary image of God it evoked. I thought of how the source of life itself flowed from the ground through the vine and out to where the branches would bear good fruit. Jesus must have been constantly trying to discover new ways to describe his relationship with God and with us. Last week it was the good shepherd. This week is the vine and the branches. Next week he declares his deep friendship for those who seek to follow him. One trait stands out in all his descriptions—his obvious yearning to be close to us. Parents and family members can understand that yearning, that desire for connection and sharing life. Look around your house. See the signs of closeness to those you most love. Know that God loves you in that very same way.

Authors Tom McGrath

vines bear fruit God loves you

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Exploring the word

04 Sep 2016 - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

It was meant to be the deal breaker, and it was. Hate your parents? Your siblings? Hate your spouse and children? Who can do this? Who can imagine Jesus would even want this? Matthew quotes this teaching, softening the blow: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (10:37). To speak of higher loves is the kind of religion most of us can live with. It makes sense that Jesus demands our allegiance above all others—it makes sense, though many of us aren’t ready to accept that requirement. Our families are precious to us. We build our lives around the ideal of our happiness together. We’re rarely prepared to put any priority above that fundamental loyalty. Yet Jesus does ask it of us. Not just ask: He draws this precise line in the sand between disciples and fakers. Luke chooses theatrical hyperbole in casting this teaching in terms of hate rather than higher love. Considering the style of Semitic discourse back then (and now!), Luke’s version is closer to what Jesus actually said. Turning your back on family is exactly what Jesus asks every disciple along the way to do. It’s what Elijah required of the farmer Elisha when he threw the prophetic mantle around his shoulders. Say goodbye to your folks, burn the yoke, and roast the oxen. You’re done here! Renunciation of the old life and a total embrace of the new is how conversion works. You can’t plow a new furrow while looking back over your shoulder. If the old way has a hold on you, looking backward immobilizes you into a pillar of salt. Both Testaments are on board with this teaching, and are equally dramatic about it. Abram and Sarai must leave home and family to gain a land of promise and propagate a nation. Moses abandons his obscure shepherd’s life to become God’s man in Egypt. Throughout history, prophets are called and sent, despite the risk and the domestic cost. Did Amos wonder what was happening to his orchards back in Tekoa while he was denouncing Samaria? Walking away from the secure and familiar is what the freedom of the children of God is for. The word “familiar” includes, of course, family. The word hate remains the deal breaker for many. Our world teems with hatred, and the media brings deeds of hate into our homes every hour. The chemistry of hate burns in the chest, destroys its host, and spreads harm everywhere. We don’t want to absorb that awful feeling. So forget emotions, and contemplate the real mandate, which is to renounce anything that stands in the way of fidelity to God’s call in your life. That’s challenge enough! Related scripture links Jesus takes the lowest place: Phil. 2:3-11 Gospel teachings on humility: Matt. 5:3-11; 18:1-5; 20:20-28; Luke 6:20-26; 9:46-48; 17:7-10; 18:9-17 Paul’s struggles with humility: 2 Cor. 12:7-10 Catechism links Humility: CCC 525-526; 559; 724; 2540; 2559; 2628; 2631; 2706; 2713

Authors Alice Camille

hate your family higher loves

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