31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - B 2024

We cannot reduce the message of the Gospel only to love of neighbor.  Love of neighbor must flow from and be informed by our love for God and God’s love for us.

The words that Jesus speaks to us today are in some ways rather simple.  Jesus tells us that the first commandment of every Christian is to love God.  From this love of God flows the second commandment, to love our neighbors.  And, as I read Jesus’s words preparing for this homily, my mind immediately traveled to St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  Talk about a woman who loved God and neighbor!  If you are not familiar with her story, she was born in Albania and eventually became a religious sister in an order dedicated to teaching and education.  As she worked in India she was very disturbed by the poverty and suffering in Calcutta.  She felt the call to leave the Sisters of Loreto and found the Missionaries of Charity.  She spent her life directly caring for the poor and marginalized.  She certainly lived out God’s commandment to love one’s neighbor.  Much of her approach to love of God and neighbor is summed up in a famous letter she wrote to her nuns in 1993 which I now want to share with you:

“Jesus wants me to tell you again … how much love He has for each one of you – beyond all you can imagine.  I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus – one to one- you and Jesus alone.  We may spend time in chapel – but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love?  Do you really know the living Jesus – not from books but from being with Him in your heart?  Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you?  Ask for the grace, He is longing to give it.  Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying “I thirst” in the hearts of the poor.  Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person – not just the idea.  How can we last even one day without hearing Jesus say “I love you” — impossible.  Our soul needs that as much as the body need to breathe the air.  If not, prayer is dead – meditation only thinking.  Jesus wants you each to hear Him – speaking in the silence of your heart.

Be careful of all that can block that personal contact with the living Jesus.  The devil may try to use the hurts of live, and sometimes our own mistakes – to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you, is really cleaving to you.  This is a danger for all of us.  And so sad, because it is completely opposite of what Jesus is really wanting, waiting to tell you.  Not only that He loves you, but even more – He longs for you.  He misses you when you don’t come close.  He thirsts for you.  He loves you always, even when you don’t feel worthy.  When not accepted by others, even by yourself sometimes – He is the one who always accepts you.  My children, you don’t have to be different for Jesus to love you.  Only believe –you are precious to Him.  Bring all you are suffering to His feet – only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are.  He will do the rest.”

Mother Teresa is renowned for her deep love for her neighbor, which she expressed so powerfully through her tireless care for the poor in the streets of Calcutta.  Yet she emphasized that her love for God—her love for Jesus Christ—came first.  She taught her sisters that without a personal, profound love for Jesus, they couldn’t truly serve the poor.  She once said, “Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying, ‘I thirst,’ in the hearts of the poor.” Her words remind us that, in our Christian lives, there’s a clear priority: we must love God first, with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  This is why we are here.  This is the Church’s mission, and it is our mission as Christians.  Loving Jesus is our primary call; from this love flows all true love for others, especially those in need.

Now, what am I not saying?  I’m not saying we shouldn’t help the poor.  Jesus never said that, and neither did Mother Teresa.  But they would both say that our first purpose is to love God.  When we keep this priority, it not only keeps things in perspective but also reminds us of a crucial truth: this world is fallen, fundamentally broken, and in need of a Savior—not us, but Jesus Christ.  Human efforts alone cannot redeem the world.  History is filled with organizations and movements attempting to solve humanity’s problems, and while many were born of good intentions, without God’s love at their center, they ultimately fall short.  Our mission is to love God first, then let that love animate our care for others.  People need to experience God’s love to truly be transformed.  Meeting material needs is important, but only the love of God can change hearts and lives.

Jesus is the Savior, not us.  Our role is to cooperate with His saving work, especially by helping our neighbors in need.  Today, Jesus gives us a simple but profound command: to love God above all, and from that love to let love for our neighbor naturally flow.  When we truly love Jesus, He will ignite our hearts with the same love that fueled Mother Teresa.  This fire of love is the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us and who, with the Father and the Son, deserves our undivided worship, praise, and adoration.