Here is my homily from this morning’s Mass. God bless each of you!
All this week we have been hearing from the first letter of St. John in our first readings. We hear some very beautiful words, beautiful thoughts, indeed some very beautiful and deep theology. We have heard how he who loves abides in God and God in him. We have heard how God has infused his Spirit within us, and drawn us up into divine life itself. We have heard that we are God’s sons and daughters.
Beautiful words and beautiful thoughts that convey to us a basic Christian reality: That we have been given such great dignity in God’s eyes because of our baptisms. That we share in God’s dignity and life. That each and every person is immeasurably valuable in the sight of God. That each and every person is unimmaginably beautiful and that beauty is seen by God.
My friends, I think that if we could only begin to appreciate more fully this basic Christian reality, then we would begin to treat ourselves and each other very differently. As St. John said today, the way we know we love God is to keep his commandments and the greatest of these is to love one another.
I do not know how we will turn the tide of abortion, euthansia, war, violence and terrorism in the world until we begin to deepen our appreciation for the dignity that is ours, given us by God, by our baptisms. I do not know how we will stop the killing and begin the peace until we meditate on and live out the dignity that has been restored to us by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
May we, this day, as we go about our day, take time to meditate on the underlying message of St. John’s letter, i.e., that God loves us so much that we are, in his eyes, beloved sons and daughters and that each of us, by virtue of our baptisms, has immeasurable and unimmaginable dignity, and that we are called to recognize that dignity in each other. Let us pray today for that grace, the grace of this discernment and understanding.
