Jesus’ command is to love! Notice, however, Jesus starts this Gospel passage by saying: “To you who hear I say” God is speaking to everyone, but not everyone is willing to listen or hear! We are all called to hear God’s word and to devote time to understanding it. To allow it to be our guide for daily living. God’s word is active and alive in all of our lives, but the question is: will we allow ourselves to hear it?? Jesus calls us to a radical love, a love that is even deeper than that of a mother for her child! We are called to love our enemies, to love and give of ourselves to everyone, and to expect nothing in return. We are especially called to love the poor and marginalized, the stranger and the outcast among us.
The blessedness we seek, the conversion we seek is to commit ourselves to be agents of change in the way we share the blessings we enjoy. The commitment we seek is find our place among that mysterious group of God’s blessed ones whose hopes are shaped by the needs of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. As I say, this commitment may end up making us poor, but we will experience a blessedness that is priceless.
Perhaps the question of the day is whether we are willing to allow Jesus to commandeer our boats. Peter would warn us that allowing Jesus onto our turf will not turn out as we might expect. We will become painfully aware of our inadequacy and sinfulness. And in the midst of that, we may be captivated and discover how our small faith and tiny hopes can grow into extraordinary and miraculously realistic expectations.
...This is where the heart and soul of our parish life is: grounded in the Gospel call to share the Good News and care for the poor. Recently some critics of the Church would have you believe that you have another mandate: to withhold your support of Gospel-missioned parishes and diocesan initiatives as a way of standing with the victims of clergy sexual abuse. We as a community of believers always stand with the victims of sexual abuse. We, as a parish staff, share our resolve that this mandate to withhold support is wrong-hearted. The withholding of support for the good work of Catholic parishes does not provide the love and support and care that these victims deserve; it only serves to harm others.
This week I attended a moving presentation celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a wonderful celebration with singing, dancing, speeches and some presentations by young students from the Rochester City Schools. I was particularly struck by a group of young students who sang "I wanna be a church." To this phrase they added many things – like - I wanna be a church where all are fed and no one goes hungry, I wanna be a church where all are family and no one is beaten or abused. I wanna be a church where all have a safe place to live. I wanna be a church....... and they went on with their hopes and dreams. Their presentation, their words had so much power! – I ask you - how do we wanna be a church?