Whew! This week’s Gospel hits hard as we are dealing with everything that is going on in the world. There are many Christians who understand a Christianity where loving others means that you try to make (by any means necessary, even law and force) the world do what your understanding of the Christian message is. Then there are plenty of other Christians who take the understanding of Christian love as a sort of laissez faire message, a sort of vague, anything goes, free love type of Christianity.
Recently Pope Francis gave us a beautiful and strongly worded reminder of Christian love in his letter to the USCCB. He speaks of what it means to love our neighbor when our neighbor is a migrant or a refugee, legal or not. Most importantly he specifically names the bad theology that was spoken of and has gained popularity after a politician used it to justify such policies. Concentric circles of increasing love, a hierarchy of love and importance in one’s life or the world, is not theologically correct. Pope Francis clearly states this. “The true ordo amoris [order of love] that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
I am wrestling with this because there are those in the world at the moment that it is awfully hard to love. There are those who are causing so much hurt and pain and suffering. There are those whose policies are decimating lives. How do I love these?
I wish I had an easy answer for you.
All I can say, is that I’m looking to the Pope at the moment. He saw the world of hurt being caused and instead of lashing out or even using harsh language, offered correction and formation in a way that is itself compassionate. Within the sphere of authority and influence he navigates, he chose his words and did so with immense skill even as he was clearly deteriorating in health.
We each can choose to navigate in a similar, grace filled way the waters of our own authority and limitations. We can choose to speak the words of truth and take action, following the model of Pope Francis’ words. We can, and must, choose these words and actions with determination and fortitude. We must do good as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel. There is good that each of us can do, daily, that impacts the world around us. It's tempting to discount these small acts as unimportant when we look at the nation’s or world’s tragedies. That is a true temptation. For we each have great power in our small acts and cannot forget that it is in our daily acts, our daily choices, when we stay rooted in the God of Love that the Spirit can move in powerful and unexpected ways.
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