Homily: Feast of St. John Neuman

Feast of St. John Neuman (1 Jn 3:11-21) “Love Not Hate”

Righteousness was the goal of every Jewish person. The righteous person, it was thought, would have a blessed life. How did one become righteous? The way it was thought that one would become righteous was that they would keep the law. The old expression was, “keep the law and the law would keep you”.

There were 613 different laws that a Jewish believer was supposed to keep. This was a very complex way to please God. Often people would despair at ever being righteous. Christian Theology simplified things.

We read about it in 3rd chapter of the 1st Letter to St. John. There is one virtue that is the driving force of the Christian life. The virtue is love. From the moment that a person converts to Christianity that person’s primary goal is to love their neighbor.

The writer of John puts it very strongly. If we are people who always seek to love others we are alive. If we are individuals who cannot motivate ourselves to love our neighbor, we are dead.

How do we know that is true? We can consider what the face of someone who is in love is like. Usually, there is a serenity in such a face. If we are in love, it is hard not to be upbeat. On the other hand, if we hate someone or dislike our lives there will probably be a frown on our face. People who are bitter seem to have a gray cloud over them all the time.

We might hear someone say I know all this intellectually, but I don’t know how to live like this. How do I live in love? What is the measure? The answer to that question is that we need to measure ourselves by looking at Jesus on the cross. We need to meditate on the parable of the cross. Love means making sacrifices for others and without resentment. Can we live like that? If we can, then we imitate Christ’s love.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Is love the motivation for my actions? What proof do I have for this?

2.    Am I a lover or am I fighter? How do I know?

Dear Parishioners,

          I would like to remind people that there is a silent directed retreat going on at St. Mary Monastery in Rock Island from Sunday January 15th until Wednesday afternoon January 18th. There will be Mass and an opportunity to join in the Liturgy of the Hours with the Sisters. Retreatants will also meet with a Spiritual Director once a day and there will be a lot of time for quiet reflection.

          If you would like to take part in this retreat you can call the Benet House at St. Mary. There are limited spots for this retreat for participants. This has been a very meaningful experience for people through out the years and it is a great way to start a new year.

          If anyone has questions, they can give me a call.

          May Our Lady watch over everyone as we begin the new year.

          Fr. Mark