Audio: https://sites.google.com/site/sktdeaconed/home/mp3/homily%2002.03.13.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1
It was about fifteen years ago - my
wife Pam and I were at a gathering of the couples and priests who present
Marriage Encounter weekends. She and I
had just been asked to become a presenting team couple and we were being
welcomed at a little get-together, a party of sorts, and it was there that she
and I were asked to play a little game with today’s second reading from
Corinthians. One of the most well-known
readings in all of scripture. A reading
proclaimed at virtually every Christian wedding. So we were asked to play a little game with this
reading and it went like this. Pam was
asked to read this passage, but every time the word “love” appeared, she had to
substitute “Ed.” Ed is patient. Ed is kind.
Ed is not jealous. Ed is not pompous…and
so forth.
Now
the goal of this little game is to get all the way through the passage without
laughing. Problem is, I don’t think she
got much past “Ed is kind” before she blurt out giggling. As did I.
Why is that? It’s because we both
knew and could immediately recall all the times when Ed is not patient. Ed is not kind. When Ed is quick tempered. You get the picture.
Try
that some time – see if you can read this passage substituting your own name
each time the word “love” appears. I
don’t know about you, but for me, that’s not easy. Ed is patient? Ed is kind?
Not so much, I’m afraid. Pam
called me at work this week when I was in the middle of some task, and I was
anything but patient and kind. It was
more like impatient and downright nasty!
It
seems to me that this passage, which sounds so sweet and wonderful and
beautiful when proclaimed at a wedding, is tough as nails to really put
into practice. You see, this word “love”
of which St. Paul speaks so eloquently, is not some sweet, flowery feeling like
we tend to think. This word “love” is an
action word, an act of the will. A
decision made with the mind.
Who
is naturally patient and kind? Who is
naturally not quick-tempered or naturally doesn’t seek his or her own interests? Maybe you are, but I sure am not. The spiritual journey is all about putting on
these qualities, learning them as virtues, by making the decision to act, to
behave, in a certain way. Over time,
hopefully, we become more patient. More
kind. More humble. But it’s always a decision.
This
is the kind of love St. Paul is speaking of in this famous passage. It’s a self-giving love. It’s a decision to always do what is best for
the other. For our spouse. Children.
Family. Friends. It’s what we choose to do, especially when we
don’t feel like doing that, especially when we feel like doing the exact
opposite. It’s the sort of love that
Jesus showed all throughout His life, and most especially as he hung upon the
Cross for you and me.
And
make no mistake - this sort of love is not just meant for your family and
friends, co-workers and classmates. No. We as Christians are called to love the whole
world around us with this same self-giving, self-emptying, intentional,
love. Especially the last and the
least. Do we love the poor? The unborn?
The sick? The immigrant? Christ shows us the way, and He commands us
to love as He did.
In
fact, this kind of love is what it means to be a Christian, a disciple
of Christ – this love is what must happen if we say we have faith. Just this week, Pope Benedict writes, “Faith
precedes love, but faith is genuine only if crowned by love. Everything begins from the humble acceptance
of faith (‘knowing that one is loved by God’), but has to arrive at the truth
of charity (‘knowing how to love God and neighbor’), which remains forever as
the fulfillment of all the virtues.”
And
you know what? this kind of love is
counter-cultural! Think about our
culture – our world. Love is
patient? This world is ever so impatient,
and getting more so all the time. I want
it now - I won’t wait. Love is kind? Sure there are many kind people in the world,
but the instances of unkindness are splashed across the daily pages of the
newspaper. Love is not
self-seeking? If there’s anything that
our culture encourages, prizes, cherishes – it’s self-seeking. Look out for number one. Get ahead at any cost. Yes, St. Paul paints a very different picture
of the Christian life than we see in the world around us, different than the
people of Corinth were seeing in the world and community around them. Different than they were behaving. I dare say different than we ourselves so
often behave.
But
if we live this kind of love, this vision of St. Paul of what it means to live and
love as a Christian, you and I will look and act and be very different than the
community and world and culture around us.
And the culture and the world may not like us very much. If we take care of the poor, if we stand up
for the right to life of the unborn, if we truly care for the sick, if we work
for the dignity of the immigrant and the migrant, we may face rejection and
perhaps even fury. Perhaps even from
those close to us.
But
that shouldn’t stop us. We may fear doing
what God is calling us to do because of other peoples’ expectations, or our
environments and histories, we may feel consumed by what other people will
think of us. But we need to break out
of our fears and expectations and freely do what God calls us to do no matter
the consequences. No matter the reaction
of those around us.
We
will soon approach the altar of grace, where we will receive the very Body and
Blood of Our Blessed Lord. May His Body
and Blood give us the strength, the courage, the grace to love as He loved. And to go forth from here to be His loving
presence. In our families. Our workplaces and schools. Our communities. Our world.
And to bring into the world the very presence of our Lord God, who is
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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