When we love, we choose to be humbled. As we give of ourselves, we let ourselves be humbled, since we are choosing someone else over ourselves. When we allow ourselves to be humbled, God gives us the grace to love our neighbor, including those among us who are marginalized. By the grace of God, we can come to see how persons living on the fringes of society are more like us than we had thought, and thus come to love and cherish them. Thus, since we come to see we are more like others than we had thought, we necessarily give up our conceptions of ourselves so that we can become who God has always intended us to be. We let go of our images of ourselves so we can see God made us in His own image. We relinquish our false ideas of ourselves so we can love. As we empty ourselves of our untrue conceptions of ourselves, God can fill us up with the love* we have seen our brothers and sisters demonstrate for us over the centuries.
Sometimes we might think this love is out of our reach. Yet God gives us opportunities to open our hearts and choose this love.
We can think that saints have nothing to do with us. We can decide that we are far removed from them. In addition to saints inspiring us through their outstanding examples, they point out to us to consider what we value, and to act accordingly. Thus, although at first they might seem distant and unreachable, by pondering their choices, we can come to realize they are closer to us than we had thought, since like they have done, we too must decide everyday who and what are important to us. Through our choices, we can embrace the types of people the saints treasured. In how we opt to act, we can show we wish to love others like the saints have done, and thus be close with the saints, honoring their memory.
Today we remember Saint Lawrence as we celebrate his feast day on this particular date. He was a deacon in the city of Rome in the third century. He was charged with giving aid to those in need. Saint Lawrence loved impoverished people so much that he gave all of the money in his care to poor persons. He even sold expensive items to be able to give more to those who were indigent.
Since Saint Lawrence was one of those in charge of funds for the church, Roman officials ordered him to bring them the treasure of the church. As the priest explained during his sermon today at Mass, in reply to this demand, Saint Lawrence said it would take him a few days to gather this treasure. Then he brought disabled, blind, ill and needy individuals to the Roman officials. Saint Lawrence maintained that these outcasts were the treasure of the church.
In response, the Roman authorities killed Saint Lawrence. He died while he was tied to a grill set above a fire so that he was roasted alive. Although Saint Lawrence suffered much as he died, God gave him grace. He had been so strengthened by God that he made light of his plight. At one point he told those torturing him to turn him over because he was done on the side that had been cooking.
Saint Lawrence received grace from God. Saint Lawrence had humbled himself by cherishing those who were impoverished. Those who are humble receive grace from God.**
Those of humble heart are close to those who are least among us. Jesus told us that whatever we do to those who are least among us, we do to Him.*** People who are humble welcome Jesus into their hearts. Jesus stands at the doors of our hearts and knocks. If we open to Him, He can come into our hearts and dine with us.**** The poor stand at our doors and knock. Jesus, in the poor, stands at our doors and knocks. If we let the poor in when they knock, they can come in and dine with us. If we let them into our homes, we let Jesus into our hearts.
Last week a young couple, interested in volunteering here at the Catholic Worker House, came here to the house, and, over coffee, said that they have let homeless persons sleep in their home. This man and this woman have opened their hearts to those who have no place to rest their heads. They have welcomed impoverished individuals into their home, and thus have embraced Jesus. They have clearly demonstrated that they consider those who are poor as treasures to delicately and gently treat.
Jesus told us, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be."***** Seeing who and what we value, there our hearts reside, in community with them. As we demonstrate to others that we appreciate them, we welcome them into our hearts. We can embrace those who are poor and treat them with dignity, helping them to see that they are treasures to be valued, rather than treating them as if they are trash to be discarded. We can choose to show warmth and tenderness to those who are often cast aside, and thus truly love them.
If we truly love, we will allow ourselves to be humbled. As we consent to being humbled, God will give us the grace we need to love our neighbor. At times in our lives, we might misperceive our neighbor and mistakenly believe she is nothing like us. Through the grace of God, we can come to have much compassion for our neighbor, once we recognize that our neighbor is much more like us than we had thought. Seeing our neighbor is more like us than we had thought, we come to love our neighbor as ourselves.****** As we open our hearts to love, we open our hearts to God. As we seek to always do the will of God by always loving our neighbor, we come to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.******* Amen.
* Romans 5:5
** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
*** Matthew 25:40
**** Revelation 3:20
***** Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34
****** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
******* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
Sometimes we might think this love is out of our reach. Yet God gives us opportunities to open our hearts and choose this love.
We can think that saints have nothing to do with us. We can decide that we are far removed from them. In addition to saints inspiring us through their outstanding examples, they point out to us to consider what we value, and to act accordingly. Thus, although at first they might seem distant and unreachable, by pondering their choices, we can come to realize they are closer to us than we had thought, since like they have done, we too must decide everyday who and what are important to us. Through our choices, we can embrace the types of people the saints treasured. In how we opt to act, we can show we wish to love others like the saints have done, and thus be close with the saints, honoring their memory.
Today we remember Saint Lawrence as we celebrate his feast day on this particular date. He was a deacon in the city of Rome in the third century. He was charged with giving aid to those in need. Saint Lawrence loved impoverished people so much that he gave all of the money in his care to poor persons. He even sold expensive items to be able to give more to those who were indigent.
Since Saint Lawrence was one of those in charge of funds for the church, Roman officials ordered him to bring them the treasure of the church. As the priest explained during his sermon today at Mass, in reply to this demand, Saint Lawrence said it would take him a few days to gather this treasure. Then he brought disabled, blind, ill and needy individuals to the Roman officials. Saint Lawrence maintained that these outcasts were the treasure of the church.
In response, the Roman authorities killed Saint Lawrence. He died while he was tied to a grill set above a fire so that he was roasted alive. Although Saint Lawrence suffered much as he died, God gave him grace. He had been so strengthened by God that he made light of his plight. At one point he told those torturing him to turn him over because he was done on the side that had been cooking.
Saint Lawrence received grace from God. Saint Lawrence had humbled himself by cherishing those who were impoverished. Those who are humble receive grace from God.**
Those of humble heart are close to those who are least among us. Jesus told us that whatever we do to those who are least among us, we do to Him.*** People who are humble welcome Jesus into their hearts. Jesus stands at the doors of our hearts and knocks. If we open to Him, He can come into our hearts and dine with us.**** The poor stand at our doors and knock. Jesus, in the poor, stands at our doors and knocks. If we let the poor in when they knock, they can come in and dine with us. If we let them into our homes, we let Jesus into our hearts.
Last week a young couple, interested in volunteering here at the Catholic Worker House, came here to the house, and, over coffee, said that they have let homeless persons sleep in their home. This man and this woman have opened their hearts to those who have no place to rest their heads. They have welcomed impoverished individuals into their home, and thus have embraced Jesus. They have clearly demonstrated that they consider those who are poor as treasures to delicately and gently treat.
Jesus told us, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be."***** Seeing who and what we value, there our hearts reside, in community with them. As we demonstrate to others that we appreciate them, we welcome them into our hearts. We can embrace those who are poor and treat them with dignity, helping them to see that they are treasures to be valued, rather than treating them as if they are trash to be discarded. We can choose to show warmth and tenderness to those who are often cast aside, and thus truly love them.
If we truly love, we will allow ourselves to be humbled. As we consent to being humbled, God will give us the grace we need to love our neighbor. At times in our lives, we might misperceive our neighbor and mistakenly believe she is nothing like us. Through the grace of God, we can come to have much compassion for our neighbor, once we recognize that our neighbor is much more like us than we had thought. Seeing our neighbor is more like us than we had thought, we come to love our neighbor as ourselves.****** As we open our hearts to love, we open our hearts to God. As we seek to always do the will of God by always loving our neighbor, we come to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.******* Amen.
* Romans 5:5
** 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6
*** Matthew 25:40
**** Revelation 3:20
***** Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34
****** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
******* Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
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