Christ The Servant
Catholic Church
Cold Springs, Ontario
Homily Selections
Homily for May 9, 2010
Whoever loves me will keep my word… Jesus’ love is often referred to as agape, an unconditional love that focuses on giving. Agape is a love that is selfless and continues to give no matter what the response. This kind of love recognizes that then entire universe is intrinsically connected … the environment, animals and humans.
Love is a commodity that is often in short supply. In our travels through the malls this past week, love would seem to be a rather simple thing. Buy a gift or card for your mom or for the mother of your kids and you can tick that job off your “to do list”. As I sit and listen to clients in counseling sessions, I am all too aware that people often feel unloved. Women who live in abusive situations stay because they believe that underneath the abuse, their partner truly loves them and that the relationship will change. Teens often leave home very early because they have never attached to their parents. Young people who have grown up in dysfunctional families look to sexual love to make them feel complete only to become disillusioned and begin the search anew when their significant other cannot meet their needs for love. Addictions and substance abuse are used by many people to numb the experience of not being loved. Men mourn their unexplored relationships with their sons and often try to repair these relationships much later in life. People feel the pain of being unloved and that pain is a real as a broken limb or a toothache.
Jesus, in speaking about love, is unveiling a new worldview, a perspective that all too often is not embraced. Perhaps we could refer to it as a preferential option for love. It is a preferential option because love is a gift that can only be freely given; one cannot make another person love them. Gary refers to the action of loving in this way as dangerous unselfishness. Jesus is speaking about a love that is relational. Jesus spends time with people who are considered outcasts in spite of the disapproval expressed by his disciples, the Pharisees and even his friends. Jesus does not love anonymous people but rather gets to know people which include their warts and flaws; his love is inclusive and unconditional. Jesus’ love stretches our own understanding of love. Think of people in your own life who are difficult to love and try to imagine loving them, even the parts that drive you crazy.
Jesus truly understood the difficulty in what he is asking and he said that he would send an Advocate, another word for the Holy Spirit. Jesus appreciated that loving other people could be really challenging and that each of us would need help. Each person in the world has wounds and scars that often make love challenging.
Love is about attachment. New moms know about attachment and the experience of falling in love with their new babe. One just has to look at a mother and her newborn infant and one is witness to a biological love affair that ensures that the needs of the infant are met thus ensuring human survival.
Love moves beyond the personal to the community level. In our church community we have expressed our relationship to the larger community. In writing letters to support the palliative unit at the hospital, we are expressing our love, compassion and concern for a small minority of individuals and families. Our actions indicate our awareness of deep connection to all people who suffer. Last week when Don and Rosemary invited us to put together meal bags for families, it was apparent that there are people in the community who care very deeply about their neighbours. Rather than just give food to the food bank, normal giving was cranked up a notch with the inclusion of recipes that encouraged us to contribute a full meal to Northumberland residents. It struck me that this approach underlined serious understanding that we are all related. People care that their neighbors have balanced meals. Working for an agency that has a small food bank and having the occasion to fill empty bags made me aware of the love that has gone into this response to the needs of community members. So often our efforts are feel good attempts which address hunger at Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter that allow us to feel good during our own celebrations. Efforts to feed our neighbours throughout the year, sends our roots of love deep into the communal poverty leading to love that is intentional. It is an experience of communion that occurs on non Sabbath days.
Finally, since it is Mother’s day, I wanted to speak about the history of this day and the love of a woman named Julia Ward Howe (1819 - 1910). Julia Ward Howe is a woman who was active in the suffrage movement. She penned the Battle Hymn of the Republic and went on to lay the foundations of the occasion that we now refer to as Mother’s Day.
Julia was a Unitarian Christian who believed in a personal, loving God who cared about humanity and in a Christ who had taught a way of acting and a pattern of behavior that humans should follow. Julia, if alive today would probably fit quite nicely into our community. She was a religious radical who did not see herself as having the corner on truth but rather saw religion as being about “deed not creed”.
Life was not easy for Julia; she was married to a man who believed that a wife should remain in the home and was not expected to use her many gifts. Julia’s husband is reported to have been violent within their marriage. In spite of the challenge of being married to a man that was clearly abusive, Julia found ways to become involved in public life and to be a leader who brought about change. Her efforts were directed to peace and equality.
Julia worked with widows and orphans on both sides of the American Civil War. She recognized that women could come together and work on that which united them rather than what divided them; Julia wanted women to focus on finding peaceful resolutions to conflict. Although unsuccessful in bringing about a Mother’s Day for Peace, Julia did lay the foundation for a North American Mother’s Day. History is about the winners; we all too often ignore the important efforts of people whose blood sweat and tears are influential in bringing about change. In 1870, Julia wrote a Declaration that I would like to read this morning. It challenges women to stand up for human life and to use their efforts to bring about peace. Julia’s message continues to have relevance today in a world that maintains that war can be a means of achieving peace. While her language is a little old fashioned, her message is current.
DECLARATION (1870)
Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
As you celebrate Mother’s Day, remember that the foundation of this celebration started with the efforts of a Christian woman named Julia Ward Howe to bring about peace and to eliminate war. Julia’s efforts emphasized that bloodshed wounded the entire human family. Like Jesus, Julia Ward Howe challenged systems that devalued human life. Whoever loves me will keep my word continues to be a hurdle for humans. Families are the first place where we learn about love. Let us pray that families will be strengthened in their ability to love.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors of articles on this website and do not necessarily state or reflect the views of Christ the Servant Catholic Church. Publication on this website should not be considered an endorsement. Christ the Servant Catholic Church and its employees do not express or imply any warranty or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information on this website. Christ the Servant Catholic Church will not be held liable for any direct or indirect loss or damage arising under this disclaimer or in connection with our website. By using our website, you accept this disclaimer in full.
The information on this website is the property of Christ the Servant Catholic Church. It is being made available free of charge. Unless providing full attribution, website users must not republish material from this website, including republication on another website, except solely for personal use. Website users must not redistribute any materials except those purposely intended for redistribution or ise within churches, ministries, and membership of Christ the Servant Catholic Church.
Website users must have express, written permission from Christ the Servant Catholic Church if they wish to sell, rent or otherwise sub-license material on the website, or reproduce, duplicate or copy the website material for commercial uses.
By using this website, you are agreeing to accept this disclaimer in full.