Scriptures: Exodus 22:20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew
22:34-40
The
Woman in the Street. In the summer of 1948, as Sister Teresa
wandered the streets of Calcutta, the stifling heat tempted her to return
home. The convent was nice and cool, as
she wasn’t even sure what she was doing in the streets. But then she spotted a woman lying in the
road. The woman was half-eaten by rats
and ants. She looked almost dead. People passed by on either side, few taking
notice. Yet the small Albanian nun walked
over and carefully lifted the woman, cradling her like a precious work of
art. It was the first time she had touched
someone in the street. The nun carried
her to a nearby hospital, and when the attendants saw the woman, they
apologized and said there was nothing they could do. But sister wouldn’t accept that. She refused to leave until they gave the
woman a bed, and after much bickering, the hospital staff finally
relented. The obstinate nun got her way,
as would become her custom in the following years, and helped the woman die
with dignity.
People often asked
Mother Teresa why she loved the poor so much, how she could honor dignity in
such difficult situations. In response,
she liked to grasp their hand, slowly wiggle one finger at a time, and explain:
“You-did-it-to-me.” In Blessed Teresa’s mind you could count the whole Gospel
on just 5 fingers.[1]
In the first week
of our series, “The Lord is King and there is no other” we must “live with a conviction of heart” that
leaves a clear message to any onlooker: our true allegiance lies with God, with
the realization that EVERYTHING belongs to God.
Today’s Gospel points to the centrality of love in our Christian
understanding of God and of how we are to live in God’s presence, that we must “be models of faith and imitators of the
Lord.” Life is all about
relationships, with one common denominator: LOVE. Love of God, “You shall love the Lord, your
God, with all your heart, with all you soul, and with all your mind…” (Mt
22:37) and
“…shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:39) This is the bottom line! In all our discussion about matters of faith,
religion, sin, rule and regulations, the bottom line remains the same, God’s
command to love.
St. Thomas Aquinas
wrote, “Nothing shows the truth of the gospel better than the love of those who
believe” (Commentary on John 17.5). It is love that has the power to convince
others of the true message that Christians bear, but it has to be genuine. So how do we know that our love is the kind
of love that truly reveals God? Our
first & second readings hold some clues.[2]
In the first
reading from Exodus the nation of Israel has been introduced to God’s covenant,
the Ten Commandments, and other instruction on how the people are to live. This section focuses on the legally
helpless. Godly love is always concerned
about the weak, the defenseless, the marginalized—which include the foreigner
living among us, the widow, the orphan, and the poor—all of whom are the object
of Gods passionate concern.[3] So! If the immigrant, elderly, orphan and the
poor are God’s passionate concern, and we are striving to live as models and
imitators of the Lord, where should our passionate concern be?
In the second
reading Paul is praising the Thessalonian believers. Paul speaks of how they “… became imitators
of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, in the joy of
the Holy Spirit” (1Thes 1:6-7). They became models for other communities and
all believers. So Godly love not only
cares for the vulnerable, but does so both at personal cost and joyfully.[4] Our world offers many opportunities for us to
experience the joys and cost of discipleship.
There is a Chinese
proverb that says: “Tell me and I’ll forget; Show me and I may remember;
Involve me and I’ll understand.” The task of discerning the path of genuine
love is challenging. Jesus calls us to
live with conviction of heart and teaches us of the importance of defending the
defenseless. The Church has a long history of models like Blessed Teresa of
Calcutta and a host of saints that have shown us how to respond to call to
service, its cost and joy. If you are
not already doing so, I invite you to get involved in a ministry serving the
most vulnerable of our community; get yourself some person to person contact
with the poor, just like Jesus and Blessed Mother Teresa. The one on one contact, done as an offering
of self and in genuine love changes us.
This is where I usually get the question, “but where do I start?”
Here is a
suggestion: Take the following to prayer.
1. Abandon yourself to God’s will
and vision, with conviction of heart.
2. Ask God to reveal to you who
are the most in need in our community that needs to be the special object of
your passionate concern?
3. Who in my life has or is
serving as a model of genuine love that you might like to imitate? Ask
yourself, what am I already doing in my everyday life that reflects God’s
genuine love?
4. Intentionally seek these
opportunities to be involved and act on God’s calling.
As you engage
those who God has invited or pushed you to serve. Remember always, “You-did-it-for-me.”
