The Sunday Word: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/051015.cfm
The
late Indian spiritual master Anthony de Mello tells the story about an eagle
that was hatched and reared with chickens. The young eagle did what chickens do
– scratched the earth, clucked and cackled, he flew, only a little now and then
a few feet in the air. One day, when the eagle was very old, he saw a
magnificent bird gliding in the sky.
“Who’s that?” he asked. “That’s
an eagle, king of the birds, he belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth –
we’re chickens.” So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he
thought he was.
Why
is that story important? Because it offers us a good illustration, almost a
parable, of what we are called to by Jesus - to not be content with simply the
lowest but to reach and soar for the highest potential of moral virtue. In a
sense we might humorously but pointedly remark that we are not called to be
chickens but to ascend like the eagles. In that way we become not only lovers
of him but in like manner we become a society of friends bound by this kind of
love. Our goal, if we choose to achieve it, is ultimately to become saints
which, granted, is not an easy task. But the moral teaching of Jesus about
forgiveness, compassion, and mercy is indeed lofty.
Eighteen
times in our Sunday readings the word “love” is mentioned. On this Mother’s Day weekend, by chance,
there is probably no more appropriate theme than that of love. When we think of
the relationship between a child and their Mother and certainly their Father as
well, it would be that marked by love.
We may not all feel that we had the best of Mother’s or the most perfect
of Father’s but the self-sacrificing character of so many parents for their
children is ultimately motivated by love.
Still,
there is something deeper here that we hear in our Gospel by John. Jesus says, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” And
our second reading, also from John, supports this further: “Let us love one another, because love is of
God . . . not that we have loved God, but that he loved us.” We might feel
there is nearly a kind of love fest going on between the Father, the Son, the
Spirit and us; and in fact there is.
What
sort of love is this? It is a love marked by action. The Father sent the Son and the Son sends us
but we are not simply sent away, we are sent as members of a family. If we are
to fly like the eagles, reach for the highest moral standard that Jesus sets
for us then our love must be active not passive. Love in deeds is far more effective than love
in words only. It’s also far more risky. In other words, as Pope Francis
recently remarked, love is “concrete.” It
goes beyond mere infatuation or physical attraction. It has too otherwise Jesus isn’t telling us
anything we don’t already know. So we think of compassion for the suffering. How often did Jesus show that as he responded
to the suffering of others?
The
man who was blind, the social and physical suffering of lepers, the woman
shamed by her adulterous action, the single mother whose only son had died, the
paralytic let down before him who could neither walk or talk, and so many other
examples confirm that Jesus is speaking about a love of compassion - a love of
action.
And
with the Gospel this Sunday we see a continuation of last week’s image about
the vine and the branches. The life
which flows into us as branches on the vine of Christ is the same life he
shares with his Father: “As the Father
loves me, so I also love you.” And
the fruit we bear is a product of how we have been loved.
So
it’s far more than what we hear in song or see in movies or on TV. That is most often about physical attraction
and quite frankly, lust not love. It’s
all about me and you. Jesus calls us
away from that kind of self-centered satisfaction and to soar to the higher sky
of moral virtue.
In
our Gospel he also reminds us that we have been changed because of the way he
has loved us. We are no longer “slaves”
but now “friends.” The highest form of
friendship is that of agape. That the love of God creates a bond between us in
which we see the essence of what Church is called to be – a group that creates
a community between its members not as a kind of Christian clique or closed
society with certain secrets that only members know.
But,
as we see in our first reading from Acts a group that invites and includes. For
Peter and for all the Apostles, thoroughly Jewish in their thoughts and
perceptions, the inclusion of non-Jews, the Gentiles, was an astounding happening. The Covenant born through Abraham and Moses
now includes all and not just a select group.
Thus, the Church takes on a very “Catholic” characteristic.
We
might logically ask, finally, does that mean that I must love those who do
evil? Love those who have no good
intentions towards others and knowingly and consciously seek to destroy?
We
always love the person but hate the sin of course. But, in the end love must conquer evil. And some evil is so dangerous it must be
stopped. Often it might be a certain
evil I find in myself, sin that seeks to weigh me down and pull me away from
God, or something far more of a threat to peace and stability. Love in action names the evil I see and seeks
to overcome it. God’s grace is far
stronger.
As
we celebrate Eucharist we see love in action for the assembly gathered in
prayer and worship is unique. Here it is
our reception of Communion which creates a community of believers born of love
and called to “glorify God by our lives” lived in communion with others.
So,
soar like the eagles by living out the higher level of goodness that Jesus
calls each and every one of us to do.
May our prayers rise up to you, O Lord,
together with the sacrificial offerings,
so that purified by your graciousness,
we may be conformed to the mysteries of your mighty love.
through Christ our Lord.
(Prayer over the Offerings)
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