A Homily for Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Friday, August 16, 2024
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63; Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6; Matthew 19:3-12
Audio Recording
Jesus answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted.”
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches about the sanctity and permanence of marriage. Now we begin to see why the love of a husband and wife is a sacrament of God’s love. The Father and the Son–while remaining distinct–give themselves utterly to each other, and this mutual giving is the Holy Spirit.
When two people come together in love and form one flesh, they mimic the love between the Father and the Son. And when their love gives rise to a child, which mimics sacramentally the spiration of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. Father, mother, and children are expressive of the divine Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And this is why Jesus speaks so forcefully about marriage, the lifetime loving union of one man and one woman designed to bring forth the fruit of children. It is why his Church, at its best, has echoed Our Lord up and down the centuries. It’s because marriage is such a sacred sign that the Church has sought so fervently to protect it.
I know the Church gets a bad rap for surrounding marriage and sexuality with so many rules. I realize that libertarians through the ages have fought against the supposed uptight moralism of the Church. But human beings ALWAYS surround precious things with laws, restrictions, and prohibitions.
Only grace can enable us to live a life based on true love, and God’s grace comes to those who listen to and follow God’s teachings, teachings that are present in Sacred Scripture and given to us through Sacred Tradition…the teachings of the Church.
These teachings, these laws, restrictions and prohibitions are the guardrails on the highway of life, guardrails that prevent us from veering off the road, from plunging at high speed into the valley of death.
Our fallen nature tends to self-centeredness, thinking about OURSELVES and OUR needs. But Love requires us to turn our eyes from ourselves to the love of others. This is why Jesus said this form of love can only be embraced by those to whom it’s granted, to those open to God’s transforming grace in their lives.
It’s challenging to love selflessly because it requires GRACE. Our minds can’t grasp the high calling of charity without God’s grace. Only by grace do we understand that selfless living benefits both those we love, as well as it benefits us.
In married life, parenting, and other situations, if our love focuses on the other’s good, and if our lives imitate Christ’s total sacrifice, then we’ll see God work THROUGH us. And as we do, we’ll also see God work IN us. Ultimately, we become who we were meant to be when we live like Christ, when we live a life of unconditional selflessness.
Reflect on our high calling of love today. Can we accept this teaching of our Lord? Has understanding of true love been granted to you by grace? Do we examine our lives and lifestyles regularly to see if they reflect to others the teachings found in Scripture and Sacred Tradition?
As we examine our life and our relationships, especially with those closest to us, consider how well you act as Christ to them. Do we forgive, turn the other cheek, seek mercy, compassion, understanding, gentleness, and other virtues and fruits of the Holy Spirit?
Ask God today for the grace to understand and embrace our high calling to love, to love fully so we will experience the joy that comes from thinking of the good of others before ourselves, and living a life that is protected by the guardrails that keep us safely on the highway leading to eternal life.
Amen?