Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Galatians 5:1, 13-18) Love is the Measure
Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Galatians 5:1, 13-18) Love is the Measure
“For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We have a very thought provoking reading today from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The epistle reflects on a debate that has gone on among Christians from the time Jesus walked on earth.
The debate revolves around what should motivate a Christian who is trying to act ethically. One motivation is that we want to follow religious law. The other motivation is that we want to follow Christ’s law of love.
Paul was Jewish all his life. He was very scrupulous as a young man. He believed he needed to keep all the commandments of Jewish religious law in order to be the person that God wanted him to be. When we think of the law of God, we might say the Law of God revolves around the Ten Commandments. But there was much more to Jewish religious law than this. The Jews had 613 rules that they tried to follow. A lot of these rules had to do with worship in the temple. But others had to do with how to live daily life. The rules covered what a person should eat, how to maintain purity, the proper way to keep the sabbath, how family life should work and a host of other things. Paul tried to keep all those laws perfectly. He was a Pharisee, so he studied the law trying to reconcile the incongruities of the law. As he grew in his relationship with Christ, he found that often he couldn’t balance justice and mercy when it came to religious law. If a person failed at keeping a law, should they be condemned, ostracized, berated, punished? Is that what Jesus did? Paul moved from believing that people should pay a price if they broke a rule to being more compassionate.
Paul knew Jesus spoke of forgiveness. Jesus spoke of loving our neighbor. Jesus embraced the sinner. Jesus preached about a law of love. When Paul experienced Jesus’ abundant love, he began to believe that love was all that was necessary. As he says in our reading from Galatians today. “The whole law is fulfilled in one statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” For Paul arguments over the law most often led to people “biting and devouring one another.”
Many are uncomfortable with the idea that laws and punishment aren’t what Jesus had in mind when he preached the Gospel. The question they have is “What will make people behave.” Won’t people believe, if we emphasis mercy too much, and if they sin, forgiveness is automatic? Paul would say there are two constraints that can cause a Christian to be virtuous. One is to enter a personal relationship with Jesus. If we feel our Lord’s unconditional love, we will feel compelled to love in the same way. The second restraint is having a sense of humility. When we are in touch with our own need for mercy, we extend mercy to others.
If we feel like we keep the rules while others don’t then we will be quick to judge. Fights and disputes will break out. Arguments will ensue about what moral rules are more important. In Paul’s mind Jesus didn’t come to the world with a list of rules. He only had one law which covered every ethical dilemma which is that I should love my neighbor as myself.
Many are asking the question this morning, what should happen regarding the ongoing abortion controversy? People have treated this dispute as if it is a war for years. Some feel like if they disagree with others over abortion that they have the right to use verbal violence, even physical violence, against others. Jesus’ law of love doesn’t give permission for that.
Somehow, we must maintain a sense of charity, if we are ever going to find the Christian path in this controversy. We must refuse to hate, refuse to kill, we must love our enemy. Civil law doesn’t always provide the answer to all sides of an ethical dilemma. At times we must say, I must love each person as Jesus would love them seeking the path of compassion, looking for the way of love. None of us are free of sin. None of us can determine another’s motivations. Only God can see into the heart.
We might recall the words of St. Paul in Ephesians 4:31-32 today, “Get rid of all bitterness, all passion, all anger, harsh words, slander and malice of every kind.” In place of these be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.”
Reflection Questions:
- Is Jesus one who condemns or forgives? Do I feel judged by our Lord or forgiven?
- Is it easy for me to point out other’s faults? Or is it easier for me to forgive other’s faults?
Dear Parishioners,
We all know that recently there was a Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade. The decision on whether abortion is legal has been returned to state legislatures. Roe vs. Wade was enacted in 1973 which was the year that I graduated from high school. From that time to this the church has taken a position against legalized abortion.
One would expect that Catholic church leaders would be happy today. Most are, but it is not a giddy happiness. How exactly are people of faith to approach this news. I have listened to many pro-life activists the last few days. There is a common theme in what many say. We are happy, but we are also aware that now is the time to concentrate on the need to care for woman and children in our society. Almost 20% of children in the United States live in poverty. If more children are born, they will need food, they will need education, they will need economic security.
Parents will need to have adequate paternity leave. Women will need medical care as they live through their pregnancies and through the early years of their children’s lives. They will need to have childcare if they are to continue being a part of the work force.
Today we are happy that there is more respect for life in the womb. But we need to respect the dignity of human life everywhere. We need to find a way to end the scourge of war, the lack of adequate resources for the world’s population. With climate change migration crisis are only going to increase.
Many challenges lie ahead of us if we are pro-life. As many have said the pro-life struggle has not ended. It has only begun a new phase which will test our prolife stance and will show if we love as Jesus loved.
May Our Lady intercede for all of us as we try to protect all life.
Fr. Mark
P.S. Remember that we will have a groundbreaking on July 17th at our 11 a.m. Mass. We will have a ceremony outside after Mass and then there will be a reception. We would like as many people as possible to come together to pray for the success of our building process. May St. Damian, the patron saint of our construction project, pray for us.
- Thanks to Cliff Zerull for donating and installing a handrail on the West Door.