Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
If That’s Not Love, What Is?
I keep all the commandments. What else must I do? Love God, love neighbor, love yourself! How do I love God? Am I doing something that shows that I love God? Am I doing something that shows that I love my neighbor? Am I doing something that shows that I love myself?
I discovered two really good reflections on the Gospel for this Sunday. One is a reflection by Sister Barbara Reid who is the President of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where I received my Masters in Theological Studies. Barbara uses the “Do you love me?” question from Fiddler on the Roof to make the point that love is more than actions. Love is about priorities, about making God the center of our lives, a living relationship! Yes, actions show our love, but there is so much more. You can read her reflection here:
The other source I frequent is Pope Francis. He challenges us to be more than communities that have lots of activity but few relationships. We have to be more than “service stations.” Pope Francis is consistent and constant in his invitations to us to accompany others, to know them and their needs, to stay with them on their journey, and to be the Communion of Saints on earth. It is all about our connectedness, our relationship to each other, our closeness in the midst of differences, and what we all have in common as people of God, as God’s creation. These are Pope Francis’ words:
Today’s Gospel passage invites us all to be projected not only toward the needs of our poorest brothers and sisters, but above all to be attentive to their need for fraternal closeness, for a meaning to life, and for tenderness. This challenges our Christian communities: it means avoiding the risk of being communities that have many initiatives but few relationships; the risk of being community ‘service stations’ but with little company, in the full and Christian sense of this term.
Angelus, Pope Francis
Nov. 4, 2018