love
Pascha: The Love That Passed Through Death Into Life
Good Friday – Year A
Fr. Joonbin Lim
Preached: April 3, 2026
Today is Good Friday, the holy day on which we meditate on the Passion and Death of Jesus. Following the long tradition of the Church, today is the only day in the year when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. The Church also observes fasting and abstinence today, and in silence and self-denial we meditate deeply on the Lord’s Cross.
Today I reflected once again on what the Cross means to me. Ever since I was very young, there was always a crucifix in my room. At that time, I was too young to understand the meaning of the Cross or what the death of Jesus meant. But one thing is certain: the Cross was always close to my life.
Jesus on the Cross quietly watched over the years of my growth. He was always beside me, whether I was joyful or discouraged and in tears. One thing I have come to know clearly is this: Jesus was always with me. That is His love. There were times when I distanced myself from Jesus, but there was never a time when He distanced Himself from me.
Moreover, Jesus became man, went before us through suffering and death, and at last rose again. If there were no Resurrection in our faith, there would be no reason for us to be here. But what we must clearly understand is that the Resurrection was not glory given without cost. That glory came through the path of Jesus’ tears, suffering, obedience, and love. Therefore, we must look not only at the Resurrection, but also at the journey of suffering that led to it.
Then did Jesus fail by dying on the Cross? Was goodness defeated and evil victorious? What is the way for good to triumph over evil? How can the endless chain of evil be broken?
The answer is love. And the highest expression of that love is this: God became man to save us, and He died on the Cross. Yet that love did not end in death. Jesus died on the Cross, was laid in the tomb, and rose again, thereby conquering our sin and death and winning the final victory.
Therefore, the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus can never be separated. Through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus passed over into the glory of God, that is, into eternal life. We call this holy passage the Pascha.
Pascha means “to pass over” or “to go across.”
The death of Jesus was not simply a tragedy. It was the fruit of a life of love poured out for humanity. Through the death of the Cross, the truth that “God is love” was revealed most clearly. Even in the midst of intense suffering, Jesus did not give up love. Rather, in order to save us, He accepted that suffering to the very end. The reason was our salvation, my salvation.
Therefore, the Cross we look upon today is not simply a symbol of pain and sorrow. The Cross is the heart of God who loved us to the end, and the gate of salvation through which we pass beyond sin and death into life. Today we must remain before that Cross and deeply meditate on the love of Jesus, who gave Himself completely for me.
Amen.
Seeing with the Eyes of Love
Easter Sunday – Year A
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: April 5, 2026
Some saw and recognized the mystery of the Resurrection, others did not see, some were hidden in fear, some did not understand this mystery. Why? Hugo St. Victor used to say, “Love is the eye!” When we look through the eyes of love, we are able to see correctly, to understand and embrace the mystery. But, when our eyes are jaded, cynical, or bitter, we will not see, not understand and be unable to embrace the mystery.
In this Easter Gospel, the first one who was able to see and understand the mystery of the Resurrection was Mary Magdalene. She was driven by love to go and search for Jesus. The others remained locked away in fear. Love overcame fear in Mary and so she saw with the eyes of love and encountered the mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus. It is the eyes of love that allow us to see, to understand with faith.
In the first creation of humanity, we are told that they were created in the image and likeness of God. The Resurrection of Jesus is like a second creation. We rediscover our original face, the image and likeness of God. The eye of love allows us to see with an imagination to embrace our true selves.
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge” We need an imagination that is rooted in love and faith.
U.S. Army Chief of Staff Omar Bradley in 1948 said, “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we do about peace, more about killing than we know about living.” Looking at our world today that statement seems as true.
When Einstein realized how his work was used to bomb Hiroshima, he declared, “If I had known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker.”
We need love to be our eyes. We need imagination that allows us to work for a new world, one of peace instead of war. We need to eyes of faith that allow us to see the Risen Lord Jesus. Then we can imagine and hope and work for that new world revealed in the Kingdom of God.
The Resurrection was a great surprise and unexpected. It was love that allowed some of them to see and believe. It allowed the first believers to see with new eyes, the eyes of love. The Resurrection opened their imaginations to see a new way to love, to see a new way for the world.
We need to see with the eyes of love, with faith, to open our imagination to believe that it is possible for a new way of life, a new world. A world of peace rather than war. A world of unity instead of division. A world with enough for all rather than so many with not enough.
As we celebrate the Resurrection, we need to ask ourselves, do we see with the eyes of love?
Choose Faith!
Easter Sunday 2025
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: April 20, 2025
Do you ever struggle with faith? Today we celebrate the Resurrection. Our Catholic Faith in the Resurrection is expressed at each funeral Mass when we declare, “death is not the end.” But, many of us struggle with faith when faced with the reality of death. Is there really a life after death? Is death just a final ending leading to nothing? Doubt when faced with the mystery of death is not a lack of faith. Faith and doubt go together.
Faith, like Love, is not a feeling, it is a choice. We choose to love someone even though at times we may not feel love. Ask most married people and they will say that there are difficult days when they do not have nice loving feelings. Love is a choice.
In the same way, faith is primarily a choice. We choose to have faith. There are many days when we perhaps do not feel faith, when we have many doubts. Then faith is a choice. The choice to say that life has meaning, the choice to believe that this universe is not meaningless and empty. The choice to say yes to the mystery of God.
We choose to love and we choose to have faith. This faith we choose gives us hope and it gives light to our lives.
St. Augustine spoke of “Faith Seeking Understanding.” Understanding does not come first and then faith. We choose faith and then we work to deepen our understanding. We study about our faith, we reflect on it, we learn more about it. Our Catholic Faith is never fully understood in this life, this is why doubts are normal. The mystery of the Resurrection is something we embrace in faith. Then we gradually come to greater understanding. The full understanding will only come when we experience the resurrection ourselves.
When we choose faith we need to keep seeking to understand it more deeply. But, there is something else we need to do when struggling with doubts. Pray for Faith. Ask God with your whole heart, help me to have faith. Now I do not understand, now I have doubts, so help me to believe. On this Easter Sunday as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, pray for faith.
Ask God for faith in the Resurrection, faith in life after death, faith that allows you to face the mystery of
death with courage and hope.
Faith is not a feeling, it is a choice. Faith is like love in that we need to choose it day by day. Choose faith then seek to deepen your understanding. Choose faith and pray to God with all your heart to strengthen your faith.
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…
A School Of Love
6th Sunday Of Easter
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: May 5, 2024
Recently, I was at one of the sessions for the formation of Permanent Deacons, as I am the Director of Formation for Permanent Deacons in our Diocese. This year we have one candidate who just had a new baby. On these Saturday sessions, the wives normally join their husbands and we have Mass half way through the Saturday session.
This couple brings their new baby to the sessions as she is breast feeding. I was celebrating the Mass that day. After distributing communion I went down to bring communion to this wife who was holding her baby. As soon as I gave her communion I realized that the reason she could not come forward is that she was breast feeding her baby. This is the first time I think I have given communion to a mother while she was breast feeding!
But, what a wonderful connection. In communion, it is Jesus, the bread of life, feeding us from his very life just as this mother was feeding her child from her very self. We can really speak of the Mass as a school of love.
In John’s Gospel we hear Jesus say to his disciples, “You are my friends.” This is how God speaks to us through Jesus. Calls us friends. In the reading from the first letter of John, it simply says, “God is Love.”
There is a lot of discussion today about education, and in particular, Catholic education. The most important education that is needed for humanity, for each person to become a fully alive human being, and for the human world to become a place of peace, is education in love.
Jesus, is the model of the human being. In Jesus we see the model of self-giving love. He says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” In Jesus we have the great teacher and model of love. In the Mass we enter into a school of love with Jesus.
In the Mass we spend time with Jesus and there we are able to be educated in love. The church
teaches that we experience Jesus in four ways at the Mass.
First, we experience Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the bread of life in which we receive the real presence of Jesus. Like a mother breast feeding, Jesus feeds us with his very self.
Second, we experience Jesus in the Word of God proclaimed. Jesus is speaking to our hearts. The challenge for us, like in any relationship, is to learn to listen. To pay attention to what Jesus is saying to us through these readings. To do this well it is helpful for us to read and pray with the readings for Sunday during the week before the Mass.
Third, in the priest presiding at Mass, we are to experience Jesus gathering us together. The priest is a sacrament of Jesus. Of course, we priests are very ordinary human beings, so the challenge is to see through faith to Jesus working through us. The challenge for each priest is to try to reflect the self-giving love reflected in Jesus, as we give our life away in service. Of course, be patient with us in our weaknesses!
Fourth, we experience Jesus in the Assembly, the people of God gathered together for the Mass. For the church is called to be the body of Christ. Sometimes this is also hard to recognize. But, we need to keep awake to the presence of Jesus.
An example is when a baby is crying or children are distracting, instead of seeing that as a distraction at our Mass, we should open ourselves to recognize Jesus in that distraction. Years ago in a previous parish, I remember a young boy who wanted to be an altar server. He had some form of attention deficit and was very restless. He just could not sit still. But, he was so excited about being able to serve at Mass.
After Mass one elderly woman who usually sat behind the servers came to me as she was very bothered by this restless server. She said he was disturbing her Mass and wanted me to remove him as a server. The self-giving love reflected in the Mass had become a self serving thing for this woman. She was failing to recognize Jesus with her in the assembly, including this restless boy serving at Mass.
In fact, for me as a priest, one of the most important ways that Jesus is with me is through you the people of our parish. Jesus is the model of our humanity, the vision of self-giving love. The Mass can be a school of love for us. We need to allow Jesus to be with us and to spend time with Jesus at the Mass.
Coming to us in the Blessed Sacrament, speaking to us in the Word, guiding us in the priest presiding and also present to us in the assembly of the People of God gathered with us. God is love. The Mass is a school of love in which we are nourished by God as a baby being fed is nourished by its mother.
Genuine Charity
Second Sunday of Easter – 2024
Fr. Peter Robinson
Preached: April 7, 2024
This past week, I heard the heartbreaking story of an Afghani woman, living now as a refugee in Canada. She and her family fled from the Taliban to our country, but as they were leaving Afghanistan, her husband died of cancer. She continued on alone, into the unknown, with her three small children. Sadly, she arrived here with an illness that has left her half-blind. She now lives with her children in a small apartment with one bedroom. She is not a Christian, as you would guess, and she barely speaks English. However, one thing that comforts her is that her children are not growing up back home, under the repression and persecution of the Taliban.
Now, let’s bring our attention to our First Reading from the Book of Acts. We are travelling back almost 2000 years ago, to a time when the earliest followers of Jesus (living in Jerusalem) were surrounded with the aching needs of the poor. We catch a glimpse, in the Book of Acts, of the life of that earliest Christian community. What was it like? Our author, St. Luke, stresses in today’s text the unity of that Jesus-community, coupled with their mutual caring, so that no one in their parishes was in want.
As you know, this care of people in need (particularly in financial matters) remains a strong challenge for the Catholic Church today; just as care for the needy is a huge emphasis throughout the Bible. We see such care beginning with the earliest Law-codes of ancient Israel; and that focus continues through to the Letter of James near the close of the NT. And it continues beyond.
Why? What compelled the ancient Jewish people — as well as us Catholics today — to care for those with less? Why do our hearts, for example, immediately go out to a nameless stranger, from Afghanistan, who is on the very edge of poverty — right here in our own country?
Here our second Reading from the 1st Letter of John answers our question. The short answer is charity. But … there are two overarching aspects of Christian love, of charity; two aspects that are vital for genuine love.
1st, genuine charity is built on faith in Jesus as Son of God. You see, although we live in a beautiful world, there are dynamics in this world that are evil. There are god-less attitudes which stand in opposition to Christian values. Yet by raising Jesus from the dead, God has shown the vanity (the ultimate futility) of those attitudes. Rather, when we choose Jesus’ example, at all cost, we experience the victory of Christian love. This is not just the abstract or romantic notion of love, but the conquering of charity.
2nd, genuine love will see us resurrected at the end of this age, as daughters and sons of God. I often point out at funerals that the most important question we will ever answer is at the close of this life. When we stand before Jesus, and he asks each of us, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” what will we then say? Our favourite sports teams will be long gone; the house, the cottage, the new car will no longer matter; all of our relationships will have ended. So, our answer (our only answer) can be that our goal in life was to become like the Christ who is asking us that critical question.
You see, it is through our baptism that we become children of God. Through baptism we are able to cry “Abba, Father” — which was how an ancient Hebrew child addressed her or his father. What is more, as we do the works of charity in Jesus’ name, we become and more like him, too.
Where I grew up, south of Algonquin Park, almost invariably the old farmhouses and barns would have a lightning rod (a lightning conductor) on the metal roof. It was linked by a chain to the ground, where it was “grounded” or “earthed.” A lightning strike would follow the line of least resistance, and spare the wooden structure.
Using this illustration a Catholic mystical writer, that I enjoy, puts it this way: when our love remains open to God, and for long enough, then his Holy Spirit uses our love as a “spiritual lightning conductor” (as a lightning rod) to purify our hearts, and even our bodies. We become gradually “spiritualized” — that is, Christlike.
So, you see, as we live lives of charity, the resurrected Jesus lives his life, more and more, in your hearts and bodies and in mine. This means that, here in Hamilton, we too can become like that early Church in the Book of Acts …
………..
Torkington, David John. The Primacy of Loving: The Spirituality of The Heart (pp. 198-99). Collective Ink. Kindle Edition.
Let’s Start Building!
7th Sunday Ordinary Time
Deacon Tom Vert
Preached: Feb. 19, 2023
Today we are going to build!
As you know, we are in the final stages of building our new church which we will be entering some time this summer.
It is amazing to watch the progress, from a field of weeds to foundations, steel structure, walls, etc.
Each week another building block to the final completed structure.
I was looking closely these past few weeks at the limestone walls that are being bricked both outside and inside the church, thinking about the similar beautiful stone churches of Europe and our own Cathedral here in Hamilton.
So, I went to my basement, and I looked for a book that I knew would help me understand the building structure and set the theme for this homily – something truly appropriate – and I found it – “Design and construction of Stone buildings”.
So, let’s begin building…
If we start from the ground up, we are told in our design book that the church must be built on bedrock and with a solid foundation. If the foundation is wrong – then the structure will always be inherently weak and susceptible to failure.
In our new church we have a solid concrete foundation and over 100 piers sitting on the bedrock underneath, to ensure that no matter what forces act upon it, the floor will always be solid, the walls will always be steady, and it will not crack.
In life, we also need these strong piers and walls of faith, so that no matter what trials and struggles and challenges come in our lives, the most important thing we can do is to look to God. We are called to connect with the foundation, to put our faith and trust in the bedrock and seek God’s favour and protection.
We are to praise God for His faithfulness in the past and ask Him to be with us in the future, to be recipients of God’s love and mercy.
This is the phrase in the psalm we have sung today – “Bless the Lord, O my soul…bless his holy name”. The psalmist thanks God for his kindness and mercy and forgiveness. The psalmist reminds us to see God acting in our lives and thank him in our prayers for the things he continues to do for us each and every day.
The next most important thing in building a church of stone are the stones themselves!
We are told in our engineering construction guide – that we are to build with “good durable stones” – these are key properties that will enable a long durability of a structure.
In our new church, we had a choice between concrete brick, clay brick, simulated limestone or natural limestone from the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario near Tobermory. We had a vision of a church that would last over 100 years, so we wanted good durable stones and chose the natural stone option. If you drive by and see the walls that are being built, I think you will agree that it is not only solid, but also beautiful.
It is great to watch the brick masons lifting the bricks into place and it reminds us of lifting spiritual bricks onto our walls of faith. I want you to picture the walls of the new church and yourselves lifting the stones onto them. Then, use this to lift up spiritual rocks in your life like we hear in the readings today.
Lift up the rock of patience when someone verbally or emotionally “strikes you on the cheek” and put it onto the wall.
Add on a stone of humility as St. Paul tells us counting on God’s wisdom and not our own.
Raise up another stone of kindness when you are asked for help even when you are tired and walk two miles with joy with their request.
You will continue to go higher with rocks of trust and truth, kindness, and joy.
Each stone we lift is a step upwards in holiness! Be holy as I am holy, be perfect as I am perfect. The meaning of this is actually to be complete and whole, to be who God meant you to be, with the gifts that He gave to us. As St. Catherine of Siena has taught us “be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!”
St. Peter tells us that we are living stones in the faith and to be an active part of the building process – and that is the challenge we have each day.
Finally, as we build our church, we are told that we have to ensure the mortar is right – too much water, too much sand or cement and it will break down over time and as the mortar falls out, the rocks will begin to loosen and the walls may crumble.
Good mortar and good rock are a great combination as the mortar will cement itself into the pores of the rock and form a bond that cannot be broken.
The mortar in our spiritual building is of course love!
St. Paul is so insistent that no matter what you do, how much you do – if you do not do it with love – it means nothing! If the mortar is poor, no amount of it or fancy trowelling will improve it.
Without love what you do is selfish and individual – love can never begin with “what’s in it for me?
Love looks outwards – “what is best for you?” “What would help you?”
Love starts with the needs of the other and we see this so clearly in the gospel stories especially when Jesus tells his disciples during the last supper “love one another as I have loved you!”
Jesus challenges the people and us to stretch this not only to those friends and family, but also to love our enemies!
The greatest example of this his washing of the disciples’ feet – the job of a slave or servant – but one that he did to teach his disciples – sacrifice your own needs no matter how great you might be, no matter how much money or power you may have – and put others first.
Agape love is talked about here, self giving love like Christ. Pray for others, help them as much as you can, show Christ’s love for others in your life…and we can only do this with God’s help.
Yes, our new church is shaping up well as we make the final push to completion, step by step.
With Lent starting this Wednesday, you may want to ask yourself about your personal building:
- How solid is my foundation of faith and my gratefulness for what God has done for me?
- How durable are my stones? How many more stones of kindness, patience, gentleness can I lift up on my walls?
- And how crumbly is my mortar? Do I have more love to give to those around me?
Yes, the challenges that God gives are big, but just think, it’s okay because today we are going to build!
The Test Of Our Catholic Faith – Will You Pass?
7th Sunday Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: February 20, 2022
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Any Christianity that does not take this teaching seriously is superficial and self serving. In fact, the test of our Christian Faith is not if we go to church on Sunday, but do I love my enemies, have I removed hate from my heart?
This is the non-violent vision of Jesus. It is a way of being in this world, a way of being in relationship with our fellow human beings. It is a way of speaking, a way of disagreeing, a way of fighting for justice that rejects violence. It is a way of facing hatred and division without becoming hatred.
In our world today, division, polarization, hatred are all so prevalent. We see divisions between nations, in the news today we see the situation in Ukraine, but we can look throughout our world and see so many examples of division and opposition between nations. Within our families we see so many cases of division and separations.
Within our church we see real polarization, with one group attacking another. We just have to go on Catholic Twitter to see that. Our challenge is to face all of this without giving in to hatred within ourselves. This non-violent vision is not passive. We face evil, we confront injustice, but never with violence, nor with vengeance.
The greatest obstacle to us embracing Love of our enemies is fear. Thomas Merton said, “fear is the root of all violence.” We need to be aware of our fear, what causes me fear. When I do not recognize fear within myself, then I will simply respond, “I hate you.” We need to say rather, “I am afraid.”
When someone is racist, it is usually rooted in a deep fear of those who are different or of losing some privilege. When countries go to war, it is often rooted in fear, fear of losing something, fear of the other which has often been formed over history. When someone is xenophobic and attacks immigrants or refugees, it is usually rooted in fear of losing something or of those who are different. We need to be aware of what we fear. I need to say, “I am afraid” rather than “I hate you.”
When we are fearful, our response is to strike out, attack, destroy the other. Anger inside of us is usually rooted in deep pain, from hurts within us. Over the years in a parish, I have often spoken to office staff about dealing with angry people. I would tell them not to take it personally and realize that when someone is reacting in such anger it is usually rooted in some deep pain they have within, that might not even be related to the present situation. It is for this reason that Martin Luther King said, “hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
Our mission as the Catholic Church in the world today, our mission as disciples of Jesus today, has to include being instruments of peace. The way we speak, the way we oppose injustice, the way we share our faith, it has to be in a non-violent way. We need to overcome fear, not be guided by fear. Fear is a terrible spiritual director.
We need to be instruments of peace in our families, in our church, on social media, in our world. To be such an instrument of peace we first of all need to find peace within ourselves, we need to struggle to overcome fear and hatred within ourselves.
The God whom Jesus revealed rejects all forms of vengeance and demands no victims. This Kingdom of God means the complete elimination of every form of violence between individuals and nations.
Become instruments of peace, our world desperately needs instruments of peace. The survival of our world and of humanity depends on this.
Perhaps my favourite prayer is known as the Prayer of St. Francis. “Lord, make me an instrument of peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” It goes on to say, “grant that I may not so much seek to be understood, as to understand.” We all want to be understood, we want others to understand how I am feeling, what my views are and so on.
But, the way of the Gospel requires that we first of all try to understand the other person first, what they are feeling, what they are thinking, how they may be hurting inside. It is this dying to self that allows us to be an instrument of peace.
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
This is the key test of our Catholic Faith. By overcoming fear and hatred within myself, then it is possible for me to become an instrument of peace.
What The World Needs Now Is Love
4th Sunday Ordinary TIme
Deacon Tom Vert
Preached: January 30, 2022
“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of!”
This song was written back in the 1960’s in a time of turmoil, the Vietnam War, and society in upheaval.
It was a song that tried to bring a better perspective, one that said we don’t need more mountains or hills, or fields, but “Lord, if you want to know, what the world needs now is love”.
With all the world has going on right now, and the second reading today from Corinthians, it struck me that this is a message so appropriate for this moment.
We have:
- Truckers protesting across the country about vaccination mandates
- We have people vaccinated upset with people who are not
- We have Europe on the brink of another war in the Ukraine with Russia
- We have migrants trying desperately for a better life who are freezing on our own borders
- We have more financial inequality than almost any time in recent history
- And on social media, everyone is ranting about all the above and more
What do we truly need right now? What is there too little of?
The second reading tells us a path forward.
It’s interesting that this letter from Paul to the Corinthians and was also written at a time of turmoil in the church in Corinth.
Every one of us has heard this reading probably 20 or more times at weddings including my own wedding 31 years ago.
And when we hear it, it is kind of nice and cute, warm, and fuzzy. But as I was researching this homily for the weekend, I got a new perspective
I think it is the second most challenging reading in the New Testament right after the Beatitudes, and really caused me to look at my spiritual life more closely.
It starts off with “strive for the greater gifts” and I love this because the word strive is an action word and shows us that we are to actively strive to improve our faith life.
It goes on to say that “If I speak in the tongues or prophetic powers, or have all knowledge, and faith, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
St. Paul speaks to the motivation of the heart in our actions, and it is key that any outward show gains nothing, but inward love to another means everything!
Extraordinary gifts, grand abilities, skills, or actions are empty without love and can even be seen hypocritical if not authentic. When love is missing, it can become vain, selfish, fruitless, and individualistic.
Love’s quest can never begin with “what’s in it for me” but always “what is best for you”.
St. Paul then gives us the list of 12 challenges:
“Love is patient”, which focuses us on allowing another person to take the time they need; it’s not on my timeline.
“Love is kind”, which speaks to gentleness, mercy and compassion, putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes and trying to understand before we judge.
“Love is not envious or resentful”; life is not a competition, either at work or in our families where everyone can succeed. We are not to be upset that others get something I didn’t, or won a award, received recognition, promotion, wage increase, or resent another’s success or skills. Instead, we are to rejoice in another person’s achievements instead of wishing it was us. Just because another’s candle is brightened, doesn’t mean ours doesn’t shine also.
“Love is not boastful or arrogant”; in other words, if I have achieved more, I don’t show off, I don’t say look at me, but instead we are called to be humble and use the gifts God gives us for the community are the way forward.
“Love is not rude”; it doesn’t close its’ ears and shortchange the other person in conversation but listens and hears and acknowledges another.
“Love does not insist on its own way”; it is not focused on how I get what I want when I want it, but instead how can we work together to get the best result.
“Love is not irritable”; it is not grumpy, edgy, or impatient, but instead it is kind, gentle and forgiving.
“Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.” We are called to seek and bear witness to the truth using faith and reason and not to get caught up in conspiracy theories or the latest social media rants.
“Love bears all things”; I found these four words from St. Paul a true challenge as we are called to bear with worries, stresses, sickness, poverty, loneliness, for ourselves and those we support, without complaining. That is not easy as we have our own limits with patience, and we get tired; but we are called to rely on God’s strength and not our own.
“Love believes all things”, by faith in God that his will be done, “Love hopes all things” as we hope for a better future, and end of war, and end to the pandemic, and “Love endures all things” with the power provided by the Holy Spirit.
“Love never ends.”; As long as we are alive, the fruit of love is still there and can give us energy to push forward as we can always love when we are connected to God as He is the source of love.
“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
These three are the heart of the Christian life – faith, hope and love – faith in what God has done, hope in what God will do, and love of God is to trust that his plan and timing are the right ones, and we accept them.
God’s love for us, becomes the driver of our love of others. We are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul and mind, and His love then enables us to love your neighbour as yourself.
The final thing St. Paul says, in the next two words of this letter which we didn’t read today: “pursue love!”
This is the message and thought for the week ahead; when you read the paper, listen, or watch the news, sing this key phrase to yourself and you will know how to react:
“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of!”
Where Is Your Heart?
21st Sunday In Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: August 22, 2021
Who or what do you serve? Who or what do you follow? We all serve and follow someone or something. As Catholics we would like to believe that we serve the living God, that we follow the Lord Jesus. But if we honestly examine our lives we will often find that we are serving something in this world. It might be the desire for money or the desire to be popular or the desire for security or the desire to be successful.
Who or what do you serve? Though we say that we serve and follow Jesus, if we honestly examine our lives we will often find that we are mostly just serving ourselves. I am following my own whims and interests.
We just saw a critical moment in the mission of Jesus. Many are leaving Jesus, they have decided not to follow him anymore. As they start leaving, Jesus turns to Peter and his apostles and asks them, “Do you also wish to go away?” We are faced with that same decision today.
Many of you speak to me about family, about friends, about colleagues who no longer practice the faith. They have decided to turn back like some of the disciples in this gospel. Jesus turns to you and to me and asks us as well, “Do you also wish to go away?” We have a decision to make, we have a choice to make in our life. Who will we serve, who will we follow?
If someone was to follow me around for one month, twenty four hours a day following everything I do, what would they see in my life? How do I spend my time and my energy? How do I use my money? What am I reading and watching? Who do I spend my time with and what do I do with my free time? How do I speak and what do I speak about? That person following me around and watching me, would they say, this is a person who serves and follows Jesus?
Maybe the key question is, where is your heart?
Someone once said that Love is a choice, not a feeling. In fact the key to love is to choose it even at times when we are not feeling it. The key to any vocation is to choose to love even when not feeling it. In marriage, a couple do not always feel wonderfully romantic and “in love”. There are times when there is no feeling at all or at least it is just very ordinary. This is when a person needs to continue to choose to love.
Same with priesthood or religious life. It is not always an exciting and mystical experience. Sometimes a priest wakes up and does not feel the presence of God at all and for the most part it is just very ordinary. That is when a priest needs to continue to choose to love.
Just as love is a choice, faith is also a choice. We need to make that choice of faith. Even when not understanding fully, even when not feeling anything special. At those times we need to make the choice of faith. Like Peter we need to answer Jesus, “Lord, to whom can we go, you have the words of eternal life.”
Love and faith are both a choice. It is a choice we need to make day by day. Even when not feeling it, even when the people around us are turning away from faith or rejecting it. We make that choice by the decisions we make in our life, by where we put our time and energy. What would someone see if they were to follow us this whole day?
Who would they say we serve and follow? Where is your heart?