This Sunday's readings are about three very important parts of our lives: the presence of the Lord, love, and truth. In my opinion, if a person has a good perspective and grasp of these things in his or her daily life, then that is truly a life being lived along the right path, a life of peace even amidst ups and downs, and a life that will be rewarded in eternity. These three concepts are accompanied by challenges and are not easy to maintain, however.
Underlying all of these readings is the fact that God initiates all that is good and, therefore, all good flows from God. In the selection from Jeremiah, we are told about God's foresight, omniscience, and providence. We hear about God's faithfulness even when Jeremiah or the people or we are not faithful or shy away from standing up for what is right. This reading lays the cornerstone about love for the readings that follow and reminds us of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit even when we might not be able to detect them.
The reading from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians tells us about how we can reflect God's unconditional love and live in a "more excellent way". This is a very different kind of love than a more common love of want and desire; it is a love almost always accompanied by and nourished by sacrifice. For me, the value placed on such unconditional love in this reading is astounding: nothing, nothing else matters! It also reminds me that such loving is possible only through God's graces.
This realization is a consolation that affirms why I do so many difficult things that I do especially within my family. It also encourages me to look at some situations with "more excellent" eyes and humbly try again. Although a familiar passage, I think finding new ears to hear it again might be in order for many people today who think they "love".
The passage from the Gospel of Luke is also a familiar one. It reveals the human nature in us all, a nature that tends to acclaim the famous and discount the familiar. God's love encompasses all of us, the famous and the home town person. The people in the Gospel story first delighted in what Jesus said. Then He speaks the part of the truth that is not so pleasant to hear ... and the people just don't want to hear it. They do not act out of love,but rather out of defensiveness. They do not want to ask questions to find the truth; they do not want to"rejoice with the truth" as we just heard/read in the second reading.
They wanted to remain as they were, comfortable and complacent as well as unloving. In a flash, they turned from being welcoming to violent, wanting to "hurl him down headlong" over the hill upon which the town had been built. How do people change so quickly !!??
In hindsight, we can see that they closed the door to the working of the Holy Spirit instead of being willing to fling open the windows to the fresh air of the Lord's presence, unconditional love, and truth. Do we not do the same to others who are "different"?
Perhaps the other person is a friend, family member, some guy or dude or gal, y'all, those folks or a co-worker or a new parishioner or an immigrant. As supposed grown-ups, it might be good to explore just being patient or kind. That might require extra effort and lots of practice and time for some of us!
For the times that we forget Your presence and the value of unconditional love and truth, have mercy on us, Lord. For the times that we fail to respond to your love or reflect that love to others, have mercy on us, Lord.
For the times You grant us Your forgiveness and fill us with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, thank you, Lord!
May we all be patient and kind to ourselves and to one another as we journey together through the challenges of daily life.
(Comments to Lanie at lanieleblanc@onebox.com.)