https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110823.cfm
Wow! What a Huge Step for Us but a Small Step for Jesus.
Anything can lose its meaning when we hear it so often. Love your neighbor is one of those sayings. It can easily lose its impact on us.
We cannot help but notice how Pope Francis repeatedly reminds us to love, particularly that neighbor that no one notices. Let us be the ones who notice. God, in his wonderful providence, puts such people with no names or faces in our path every day like he put Lazarus in the path of the rich man, Dives.
So, we have to notice the person first. It’s one thing to notice and do acts of charity for another, feeding them, clothing them, etc., but are such people our neighbors? Do I love such people as I love myself?
No, this kind of love takes time and is a determined effort on our part to listen to that person to the point that they are no longer a “no-name.” Something in us changes when we know their name, recognize their face, and their voice strikes a beat in our hearts.
Do you see what Jesus is getting at when he says to hate our family? It’s not the hate that is filled with anger. He is telling us that our work is far from done once we meet our family’s responsibilities.
We must go out onto the highways and byways and befriend those strangers we didn’t recognize because we were not looking. Walking with them through the difficulties of their lives changes them from strangers to neighbors.
Then, I am beginning to love my neighbor as myself, even a little bit. And it’s incredible that once we befriend a stranger, it is much easier to love them. Getting to love them is what is exciting. What is most difficult is making the first step out of myself and into their world.
Gospel Challenge:
As Jesus tells us in the Gospel today, this takes calculation. We have to calculate the responsibilities to our family, personal needs, and the stranger whose face we do not recognize.
Ignite the Fire
Father Rick Pilger, I C.
pastor@bscchurch.com
