Homily for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 29, 2023. Gospel of St. Matthew 22:34-40. Theme: Love is the Pathway to Peace
I am sure we can all agree that Christ's Message of love, which is at the same time a message of peace, is desperately needed in our world today. World peace seems like such an abstract goal that’s far beyond our reach. I mean, can you and I really have any real influence in that regard? Well, actually, yes we can! But to see how this is possible we have to first break down that seemingly unreachable global concept into its smaller very reachable parts. What I mean is that each one of us is called to contribute to world peace by focusing on the little slice of life that is indeed within our reach, within our sphere of influence.
It’s very much like the way medicine is injected into one small part of the body and then slowly makes its way throughout the whole system until the disease is eradicated. Or as Jesus Himself told us, the Gospel of peace will spread throughout the world person by person, the way a pinch of salt makes its way through the whole recipe or the way a little bit of yeast ends up elevating the whole batch of dough. So you see, we have God’s Word that our personal efforts for peace can indeed end up having a global effect. It is not an utopian ideal beyond our reach.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the way to peace by commanding us to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. However, this double commandment was just the beginning, the starting point for His ever-expanding teachings on love. He moves on to include enemies in the list of those whom we must love and in the parable of the Good Samaritan He teaches us that all people without exception are to be recipients of our kindness and mercy. Finally, at the Last Supper He gave us His highest directive when he said, “This is My commandment: love one another as I have loved you ” (Jn 13:34) . And those last few words, “as I have loved you” make all the difference in the world! They are what make Christian love so radically different from all other definitions of the word.
So, what does it mean to “love as Jesus loves”? What does that look like? Well, fortunately for us all we need to do is turn to the Gospels for the answer. By doing so, we see Jesus in action and learn that His way of loving is one of self-emptying, self-forgetfulness and self-giving. It doesn’t take into account what it will cost the lover, the giver, because the focus is always on God and others. It’s very difficult to define, but we can surely say that to love as Jesus loves means that our love must be unconditional. To love as Jesus loves means that our love must be sacrificial. To love as Jesus loves means that our love must be forgiving. This way of loving is the pathway to authentic peace.
To love unconditionally means that we accept people as they are and not how we want them to be. We are to show kindness even to those who may rub us the wrong way without first insisting that they change their attitude or behavior. If any changes really need to be made in them, then those changes will more surely come about not by our demanding it, but by our loving them into existence. Because, when a person experiences unconditional love, it can often stir up within them the desire and the determination to become the best that they can be. So you see, practicing unconditional love in our relationships, which sometimes may have to be what we call “tough love”, has the power over time to change hearts and lives from the inside out. Unconditional love can’t help but breed peace.
Christ-like love is also meant to be sacrificial, putting the needs of the other before our own. Our natural tendency is to put ourselves and our own desires first. But Jesus reorders the priorities of our love. He calls us to put God first, others second, and ourselves last. Now, for us frail human beings, it’s a struggle to love like that, and it’s especially difficult to keep on doing so consistently! However, with and in Christ we can do it because God’s grace empowers us to do things that we didn't think we were ever capable of doing. We can find inspiration to keep on doing this in the figure of Christ on a crucifix, with His arms outstretched and His pierced side opened wide for us. It will remind us that He kept on loving right to the end and never gave up. Neither should we.
Lastly, to love like Jesus means that we must be forgiving. A hard fact of life is that we often hurt one another. A flippant remark, an insult expressed in anger, or a grudge that we won’t let go of can cause emotional wounds that fester and bleed. The refusal to forgive or the refusal to accept an apology drains life out of relationships. It leads to wounded hearts, results in broken families, and works against serenity in our hearts and ultimately against peace in the world. You know, when it comes to forgiveness, what always impresses me most is the fact that after His Resurrection, Jesus never made even one remark or rebuke to his disciples for having denied Him and abandoned Him. Instead of condemning them, the very first thing the Risen Christ said to them were words of peace and blessing. He allowed the past to remain in the past and die there. We would do well to do the same.
Loving as Jesus loves seems quite impossible and indeed it is on the natural human level! But He gives us the grace, the supernatural power, to do so. And He does this particularly through the Eucharist. Christ-living-in-us by Holy Communion unites our human love to His divine love and elevates it. It injects us with spiritual strength that can go far above and beyond our normal human capabilities. Through the power of His Sacramental Presence within us, He enables us to love as He loves but this happens gradually, bit by bit, day by day. And so over time, if we are faithful, we will find ourselves becoming real instruments of peace by loving more unconditionally, sacrificing more joyfully, and forgiving more quickly and sincerely.
Now, imagine if all 2.3 billion Christians on planet Earth each decided to live this way! What a huge leap forward that would be to actualizing world peace!. And it is possible but the decision is left up to you and me. Sadly, so many chose not to do so and become part of the problem instead of being what Jesus wants us to be: part of the solution.
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