Homily - Sunday
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach / San Diego, CA
This week I read a story online about people sharing their most
intimate moment with a stranger. ( Link to story )
There was story of a Houston Kinkos employee that helped an elderly
women scan and post a photo of her missing son online in the wake of Katrina.
Two months later, that same woman came back into the store and introduced her
son to the clerk, they had a good hug and cry.
Another man described being next to a middle aged woman on a
flight who appeared quite scared, he reached over and held her hand during
takeoff and landing, and during the slight turbulence that they experienced during
the flight.
Another woman walked into a women’s restroom to find an
elderly man apologizing for his presence as he helped his disabled wife into a
stall, the man accepted the woman’s offer to help and being a mother, things of this nature no longer phased her.
She helped the woman, cleaned her up, and called the man back into the room.
She mentioned how much the love of that couple was now a goal in her life.
The last one I will share was a young man that saw a girl at
the bus stop being harassed by a man being less than a gentleman. The helpful young
man approached the girl as if they were old friends, and she caught on right
away and played along. They walked away from the hassling guy, but he lingered.
They continued to share a wonderful conversation together as they kept moving
away from the man, and once the bus arrived, they said good-bye as she got on,
and the pestering man wondered off.
I mention these stories today, because they are all small
acts of love. All, small acts of love, that most of us here could have done at some
point in our lives, had we been put in the right place at the right time.
In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus give a new commandment… “Love
one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is
how all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus had just demonstrated how to humble one’s self and
serve others as he washed the disciple’s feet just moments before this new
commandment was issued. He had also just made the others aware that there was
one among them that did not have love on his heart and was about to betray
Jesus.
So I imagine the point Jesus was making would be fairly clear:
You can humble yourself and serve others like Jesus did when washing the Apostle’s
feet, or fall victim to the lies of Satan, and turn your back on Jesus like
Judas would do.
Jesus spoke about, and also DID many more acts of love that
we can use as examples: The two men that carried the paralyzed man through the
roof top, bringing him before Jesus to heal him, showing us that we can love by
brining people to Jesus. The parable of the Good Samaritan, taught us to not
only help others, but to go the extra mile. The woman at the well who had many
husbands, felt the love of Christ. The wedding couple at Cana who were spared
the embarrassment of running out of wine for their guest, got to not only see Jesus’
loving compassion, but his first miracle, and the parable of the prodigal son,
taught us not only that God will welcome us back into his loving embrace, but
that we can welcome those who have wandered away from us back into our lives.
Are we willing to live this commandment to its fullest, to
love one another? Are we willing to offer love to strangers we don’t even know?
Are we willing to go the extra mile, and clean the bottom of a disabled woman
we’ve never met? Or simply comfort a stranger next to us by holding hands?
Offering Love is often sacrificial, we have to give of
ourselves, our time, our treasure, or even utilize our talent, but often what
stands in our way is pride, fear, doubt, and laziness. Too proud to humble ourselves
in front of our friends, family, and co-workers, love anyway. Fearful that we
will be made fun of, or that our offer to help will be rejected, love anyway.
Doubt, that we can make a difference, love anyway. Laziness, sometimes love
takes effort, love anyway.
We don’t need to be nailed on a cross, to love like Jesus loved,
we don’t even have to be able to miraculously heal people, multiply loaves, or make
water into wine. We simply need to make ourselves present to others. The stories
I mentioned were all “The most intimate encounter they have had with a stranger.”
And there were many more in that article. I encourage each of you to seek
opportunities where someone might write a post about an encounter where you were
a stranger that offered love, a moment when you dropped what you were in the
middle of and acted on a perceived need. Not because it will pay well, not because
it will make you feel good, but simply because Jesus tells us: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
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