love one another
The Only Thing That Matters
31st Sunday Ordinary Time
Deacon Tom Vert
Preached: November 3, 2024
It’s the only thing that matters…
There are times in your life when something dramatic happens and the whole world comes into focus. The little things like what coffee to order, how much to spend on a hotel for my vacation, who offended me last week at work, or the latest reel or post on social media become irrelevant because your perspective, all of sudden, in a single moment becomes focused.
It may be the sudden death of a loved one, the diagnosis for the sickness of a child, a major car accident or any other scenario, but you find yourself knowing what is truly important in life, and the irrelevance of the “fluff” that sometimes consume our daily lives.
In my life I have had these moments, and though I am worried about the outcome, I am glad that I have a chance to regain clarity and true perspective in life and what matters most.
Today’s gospel story gives us a glimpse of this same thing from a spiritual perspective. We see a scribe or a lawyer in different translations… an expert, testing Jesus when he was entering Jerusalem for the last time, trying to get him to say something heretical.
So, he asks him “which is the first of all the commandments”?
It should be noted that on top of the 10 commandments, there were 603 other rules and regulations given in the Hebrew faith, and many of the scribes and Pharisees would argue if some had priority over others or were they all of the same importance?
Jesus gives the scribe and us the key answer “there is only one thing that matters” and that is love! The truth is that they already knew the answer!
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!” This is called the Shema from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and the Hebrew people repeated it twice a day, in the morning and evening. And the following verses are part of it :
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind,and with all your strength.”
Then Jesus reminds them of the joint commandment from Leviticus chapter 19:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The verses to love God and one another they knew, but they really needed to change their perspective to see once again what was important, to get rid of the “fluff”. Jesus was the first to put these two verses together by showing that we love God who we don’t see…by loving those we do see! Jesus reminds us of the fundamentals of the faith, the call to love!
Pope Francis last week wrote a letter about the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and he reinforces this same message saying that “In the deepest fibre of our being, we were made to love and to be loved.” And that the “Best response to the love of Christ’s heart is to love our brothers and sisters. There is no greater way for us to return love for love.”
He reminds us of this verse in the gospel of John – “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
So, the question for us today is “can we love a little bit more?” Can we love God a little bit more by:
• Adding one more moment in our day when we reach out to him in need or in gratitude
• Maybe one more prayer of intercession for a friend or a colleague
• Maybe reading one more scripture verse in our Bible or off our phones to remind us of His love for us
Can we love one another a little bit more by:
• A bigger smile or a longer conversation with the barista at the coffee shop or the check out person at the store
• One more Tupperware of soup or chili dropped off to the single mom with kids down the street
• One more hug to the person struggling with anxiety, depression or loneliness.
• A little more patience and understanding
• To talk a little bit less and to listen a little bit more.
The apostle John in his letters writes so beautifully about this when he says:
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Just take a moment this week, think about love, and say: It’s the only thing that matters…
Only Love Can Make Things New
5th Sunday of Easter
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: May 15, 2022
“See I am making all things new.” This vision of God in the book of Revelation says that the Lord is making all things new. We see the promise to make all things new by politicians, during elections, by dictators, and so on. How is God making all things new in Jesus? Not by force, not by violence, not by neglecting the weak or poor, not by winning over others.
This vision says that God, “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.” This reading is used during Easter at funeral Masses. It is a vision of Heaven where all things will be made new by God.
All that is broken, divided, hurting in this life will be healed, reconciled, made new. But, each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we say, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We do not simply say wait until heaven and then all will be good. We are called to bring that vision here on earth, in our lives, in our time.
Jesus says that he gives us a new commandment. To love one another. How do we know that we are disciples of Jesus? If we have love for one another. The challenge of the Church today and in all time, is that we love one another. It is easy to love the church as an abstract idea. Harder to love the real people who are in the church with us.
“See I am making all things new.” Only love is able to create something truly new. Only love is able to bring the vision of Heaven to this earth. Only love is able to change any person into something new. You cannot truly help others unless you first of all love them.
I always say to seminarians preparing to be priests, that the first step when moving into a parish is to learn to love the people in that parish. We cannot care for the poor, unless we first of all love them. We cannot make a community new unless we first of all love those within that community. Whether it is a parish, a family, a school or any other community of people. Only if we first love them can we be an instrument that allows God to make them new.
The love that Jesus is speaking about is his own example of self-giving love. Each time we celebrate this Eucharist we hear the words of Jesus at the Consecration, “This is my body, given up for you.”
We need to love one another to become instruments of God making all things new. For we can only bring about something new if we first love them very concretely. Your children, your grandchildren, your spouses, your friends, your students, pray for them so that you grow to love them.
I really am moved by those words in this passage from Revelation, “God will wipe away every tears from their eyes.” I imagine God reaching out to wipe away tears from those who are hurting in any way.
When Jesus gives us that new commandment to love one another, he is calling us to be the hands of God wiping away tears from the eyes of those in our life. Our family, our parish, our school, our workplace. Pray for them so that you will learn to love them. Go out from here and become the hands of God wiping away tears. This will open the path to make all things new.
Love And Sacrifice – Fr. David
6th Sunday of Easter – Year B
Fr. David Reitzel
Preached: Sunday May 6, 2018
When I was in younger and just starting to take my faith more seriously, I remember once complaining to a friend about how easy we Catholics have things. I thought, look at those Muslims, they put us to shame. They pray five times a day, they fast from sunrise to sunset during the season or Ramadan, and they can’t even drink.
Or look at the orthodox Jews. They wear special clothes, they ritually wash themselves before meals, and every Sabbath they dedicate the whole day not just one hour to God. I complained, that these guys know what dedication is, these guys know what a life lived following God’s commands is, and we Catholics, what are we supposed to do? Love. It’s too easy, it’s too simple, just love and you get to heaven.
In the midst of my rant, inspired by my youth and misplaced zeal, my friend pointed out to me that Jesus’ commandment for us to love isn’t what most people think. Most think love is a good feeling, a smiling face, or a gentle word. If that’s all Jesus meant then, of course our faith would be easy. But Jesus said: “love one another as I have loved you.” He made himself the standard by which we measure our love. And the standard he set was set pretty high. You see Jesus gave his disciples the commandment to love as he loves at the last supper, on Holy Thursday, and the next day, Good Friday, he died for them.
The way Jesus loved, far from a feeling, far from a simple kind work, the way Jesus loved, was to die so that we may live. And that is the love we must live up to.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Some of us may think that this is not very realistic. Will I ever be called upon to lay down my life for my friend?
Well, it was just this past Palm Sunday that one of our Catholic brothers in France did just that. Lt. Col Arnaud Beltrame, a young man who was just recently married, arrived on the scene of a terrorist hostage taking in France. The Muslim terrorist had already killed two people and now they barricaded themselves into a supermarket with hostages. Lt. Col Arnaud, offered to take the place of one of the hostages. The terrorists agreed and he was now in their hands. Near the end of the day the police stormed the supermarket but before they could save Lt. Col Arnaud, the terrorists stabbed him and later in the hospital he died of his wounds.
Lt. Col Arnaud did something heroic that day when he took the place of a hostage, giving his life for hers. When he woke up that day he did not know that he would be called to lay down his life, but when it came, he was ready. He was a faithful catholic who practiced regularly with his wife. His courage and strength would have come from the command and example of Jesus Christ who laid down his life for us. I wonder if he heard Jesus’ words as he contemplated sacrificing his life, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Whether he did or not, he fulfilled the commandment, and today we pray he has received his reward.
We are called to follow the same commandment as Lt Col. Arnaud, if the situation should ever come. Would you be willing? Would you be ready? Would you be able to what he did, love how Jesus loved, and lay down your life for your friends? If you don’t know the answer to that question, don’t worry, because I don’t think I can answer with certainty myself. The point is not that we are ready right now, the point is that we live our lives aiming for that as a goal. We live our lives as if we would be ready to lay them down. And if day in and day out we sacrifice for others little by little then, we approach that goal of being able to lay down our lives for our friends.
When I was younger I thought that Catholics had it easy because we didn’t have as many rules as other religions, but through a friend I came to realise that we are called to something even higher, to lay down our lives for our friends. It isn’t easy, it isn’t simple, but the pathway to heaven never is.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”