Impossible Love

The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                     February 24, 2019
Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette

Love of God, Love of Neighbor. It’s the mission statement I made last week… the two greatest commandments for every Christian. And these two are always and everywhere connected. It is impossible to actually love your neighbor unless you love God. And, if you claim to love God, but do not live out love of neighbor, that love is not genuine. Love of God and love of neighbor are always connected.

Here, Jesus proves that point by taking “love of neighbor” to its most extreme conclusion. Anyone who has had enough neighbors knows they are not always neighborly back to us. In fact, some of them turn out to be outright hostile, to be enemies. Yet, they remain neighbors, fellow human beings. So Jesus makes it clear: “love your neighbor” even when that means love your enemies.

Sure, we can see ourselves “loving” the person who annoys us or even insults us. But take it all the way to the idea of loving those who steal, slander, even kill us or those who close to us. Can we “love” the neighbor enemy who abducts or kills our children? Who deliberately destroys our livelihood or systematically destroys the values of our community, your country? Some part of us instinctively feels like that makes no sense; like its absurd or even unnatural.

In a way, it doesn’t make sense and it’s not natural. But it is also not unnatural. It is supernatural. To really live this command, we must have two very important things: a correct understanding of what “love” actually means, and an extraordinary source of power to help us make such a choice. Both of those come from the same place: God. It is God who shows us the real meaning of love. It is God alone who can make it possible to choose something that goes against the basic instinct of survival written into our biology.

St. Maria Goretti prayed for the man who assaulted and killed her. Some of her last words were warnings about this man’s eternal soul. She died nonetheless and the man went to prison. When he got out of prison, he attended Mass with Maria’s mother. He then attended Maria’s canonization with that same woman, now a friend.

I remember a news story when I lived near New Orleans. A woman’s son was murdered. Drawing on her Christian faith, she forgave the killer and prayed for him. When the man was released from prison, she took him in and helped him get on his feet and re-enter society. She not only loved her enemy in some abstract way, but concretely worked to help him, to do what was best for him.

And that’s what love is: not feelings or romance or even liking someone; It’s to want what is best for another, regardless of what they’ve done. It might include justice and a prison sentence, but it never includes hatred. We see from Jesus’ own examples that it includes giving your cloak, turning the other cheek, and praying for the good of others. How, how is it possible to want what is best for a murderer, a monster? For human beings, it is impossible. But not for God.

In fact, loving enemies is exactly what God did. Becoming man, God let himself be rejected, mocked, tortured, and killed all while wanting what was best. Conversion is best for all of us, but when the Jews failed to convert, Jesus suffered for them and prayed for them  while they were killing him. Even still, he came back from the dead to keep loving us, to send his Apostles with the same deadly mission, a mission that cost them their lives too. But they did it. They loved their enemies. How? Because they first learned what love is from the God-Man Jesus Christ, and then they received the power to do it.

Without the love of God, it is impossible to truly love all your neighbors, especially your enemies. That is why the Church makes such a big deal about prayer and, especially, going to Mass every Sunday. Mass is not just a communal gathering or a lesson. It is first and foremost a chance to love God and be loved by him. It allows us to be mystically present at the Crucifixion, the supreme expression of God’s love. It allows us to learn love from this re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice. Then, it gives us the power to love God back and to love our neighbors and to love our enemies through the power of the holy Eucharist. Even so, we have also the other sacraments, especially Confession, there to strengthen us in this noble mission: love of God and love of neighbor. God is generous toward us, good measure and flowing over, so we can learn to be so with others.

Be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful. Be generous as he is generous. Start with having a generous attitude about going to Mass. It’s not just about being in the seat, but sincere participation. Trying to really hear what we pray for, to really speak or sing your responses. Even if your mind keeps wandering, the effort is what matters. Learn to love God as he asks us to love him, through the Mass, so you can truly love your neighbor and even your enemy as he asks us to love them.

Practically speaking, I want to help you do that, especially through receiving communion and prayer. So, you’ll keep hearing me talk about confession, annulments, blessing marriages, spiritual guidance and whatever else it takes to help you receive communion worthily. And here at Mass, there’s one tweak I’m making right away. A lot of places have gotten in the habit of taking a second collection during communion. I don’t know about you, but I find it distracting to worry about passing baskets and digging out money just moments after receiving communion.

So, the second collection will be taken immediately following the first, while the gifts are being brought up and prepared. It protects prayer time and it’s just a tad more efficient. It’s a little thing, but I said I would explain my decisions as best I could, so there you go. It’s a little way of helping us to know and love God.

Of course, the logistics are not nearly as important as your attitude towards God and neighbor. Which is why we’re also going to offer something Wednesday nights during Lent. It’s a video series about Karol Wojtyla, who lived through World War II, Nazis, and Communists before becoming Pope John Paul II. As Pope, he spread a devotion to God’s Divine Mercy, a powerful expression of what it means to love both God and neighbor. Jesus says right here “be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful,” so please join us to learn how the Father is merciful, even if you can’t come every time.

Whatever you do, remember that love of God and love of Neighbor is not just a mission statement, it’s a recipe for holiness, which is the way to real happiness. And, ultimately, isn’t that what we all really want?