Very few drivers come to a complete stop at the stop sign near our condo.
Maybe they think the sign is only a suggestion. Are God’s laws merely suggestions? The psalmist treats God’s law with the utmost seriousness. He declares in Psalm 119, “My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.”
Jesus taught his listeners how serious God’s law is. He explained that he did not come to abolish the law or any of God’s commands; he came to fulfill them. And he said that not even the smallest letter or the least stroke of a pen would be eliminated from the law. Moreover, Jesus says there will be great rewards for keeping God’s laws and great penalties for not keeping them.
The problem, though, is that none of us can keep God’s law perfectly because – at heart – we are all in rebellion against God and his Word. What can we do?
In Father Richard Rohr’s book, “The Naked Now” he writes about one of his favorite topics, dualism. Who is in, who is out? Who holds the real faith? Who are the pretenders? – which certainly fits with our readings today. But in the book, he tells a story of Mother Teresa, who began The Home for the Dying in Calcutta. It is a place where the people dying in the streets of Calcutta are given medical attention and allowed to die with dignity according to the ritual of their faith; Muslims were read the Quran, Hindus received waters from the Ganges and the Catholics received the Last Rites. Mother Teresa, who lived her faith so passionately, would not allow her sisters to talk about Jesus or even promote Jesus to the sick and dying. She told them, rather, “to be Jesus.” What an example of bearing fruit!
On this St. Valentine’s weekend, we have an opportunity to also bear fruit. We can follow the example of Mother Teresa and love each other. Love each other – not with the love that depends on chemistry, mood, and feelings – nor even with the love that depends on the behaviour of others, but love each other with the kind of love that Christ refers to in today’s gospel.
The kind of love I mean is the love that goes beyond what seems right according to the letter of the law, and enters into the Spirit of what God wants for us – the love that enters into feeding others – into healing others – into showing grace to others – into giving peace to others: The love that values others, regardless of who they are or what they have or have not done.
Someone once caught WC Fields reading the Bible. “What are you doing?” asked the person. “Looking for loopholes.” growled Fields.
With love there is no loophole, no escape hatch, no clauses that say the deal can be revoked if this or that condition is not met. Love is total – it is unconditional – or it is not love at all. Think of the words of Jesus we heard read a few minutes ago. They were words addressed to a people used to compromising – to altering love’s demands as they are found in the law of God so that those demands would be easier to fulfil.
“You have heard it was said you shall not murder – but I say to you that if you are angry with your brother or sister – you will be liable to judgement.”
“You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I tell you that everyone who looks with lust at another has already committed adultery…”
“You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbours, but I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you…”
There are no loopholes to be found in Jesus’ words. No compromises, No deals, No escape hatches.
What Jesus does is crystallize the issues involved in loving God and our neighbours so that we can know – without doubt – just where we stand, and exactly what we need to aim for.
Think about where you stand for a minute – Think about how you love others and ask yourself – is my love up to the standards set by Christ?
Most of us love only our friends and our family – and we are not sure about our family at times…
We greet those who greet us; we do good to those who do good to us,
We lend to those who will pay back, we welcome those who welcome us.
As for everyone else – well – if asked, most of us have a reason for what we do, and an excuse for what we do not do.
What we aim for as Christians is to break through the limitations of our excuses. We aim to destroy all reasons that we might offer to treat one person as less than another and to enter into relationships with each other that are based upon our equality before God.
The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that we can meet all the demands of love that are expressed in the law in one way – and only in one way – we can do so if we our hearts go there first.
Today – this Valentine’s Weekend let your hearts go – love God and love each other as deeply as you can.
When you do – you will find, no matter how many mistakes you may make on the way, that goodness and blessedness will blossom along your path, and all that God has planned will come to pass.
-Dcn. Terry Murphy