Readings;  JER 1:4-5, 17-19, 1 COR 12:31—13:13, LK 4:21-30

Homily for the 4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

In today’s world we see so many different groups. These groups can be divided by political, economic, racial, gender, religion, school or any number of other groups. What we see today is a large divide amongst some members of these individual groups. Some believe they are superior for whatever reason to the other.

In doing this they begin to believe only what is spoken to them by those who are likeminded individuals. Those who disagree with them are simply wrong or foolish regardless of what they say. As we see this has worked out so well in the workings of our government.

Jesus runs across a group in Nazareth with a similar outlook. Initially when they listen to him, they like what he has to say since it agrees with the narrative they believe. When he begins to tell them the Elijah and Elisha ended up having to prophesy to those outside their circle to be believed their tone takes a turn for the worse. So much so they want to send him to his death right then and there.

Jesus is reminding us that no matter our outlook on life we need to be open to the perspective of others in order to help them. These outside perspectives may not agree with our motivations or ideas, but that does not make them invalid. Everyone has a purpose and is loved by the same God we profess. We are all trying to gain salvation by living our lives the best way we can.

Jeremiah reminds us that each of us is special to God, remember; “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you,” These words remind us that God cares for each one of us as we go out into the world. We are special and we are called to show love.

To do this we need to prepare ourselves for the spiritual battle of daily life. We see it all around us, a world that seems more interested in their phones than in having a conversation with the people sitting at their table. We used to laugh at our children as they sat across from each other and texted each other rather than talking to each other. As adults some of us now fall into that scenario.

I had a friend that told me a story about a dinner he and his wife went out for. During dinner there was a family of 10. There were three adults and seven children ranging in age from around 6 to 14. As one would think they were expecting it to be a loud and boisterous table. Imagine their surprise when the only words spoken were to the waiter as they ordered and received their food. The rest of the time, including while they were eating, they were engrossed in whatever was on their phones.

Doing this, and I can say most of us are guilty of this at one time or another, just allows us to keep to our little silos and with our groups of like-minded friends. We never learn the perspective of different groups. These different perspectives would allow us to have conversations about the different issues in our society today. These can include, but are certainly not limited to, religious persecution, immigration, same sex attraction, economic theory and a multitude of others.

If we are like the Nazarenes and are not willing to listen to those who differ from us we will never be able to understand their thought process or make them understand ours. We will end up becoming more and more stratified into individual groups until we are all believing we have the only correct way. This is not a way to live.

Paul reminds us today;

If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

The love he is talking about is not the love we hear about from a Valentine’s day card or we see in movies. That is the human form of love, Eros. The love that St. Paul speaks of is the love of God, Agape’. This love is shown regardless of the agreement of the parties involved. God loves us no matter what we do, though I am sure there are times he is not happy with us.

This is the love which Jesus reminds us of when he tells us “love your neighbor as yourself”. We are called on to love not just those we agree with, are in our social circle, or any of the groups we belong to, but to all people. This means we are called to love those we vehemently disagree with, no matter the circumstance.

It is ok not to like a person based on how they may treat you, so long as you still show them love. Those of us who are parents understand this concept fairly well. There are many points in time, can be multiple times a day we may not like our children, but we never stop loving them. When we can begin to do this for everyone who comes into our lives this is when we begin to live the Gospel.

Do we live for God? I know there were many times in my life that the answer to this question was no. I would live for the next promotion, the next raise or the better car. I thought I knew how to live my life. There are still times now that it seems I head down that path. The key for me is to make sure I invite Him in so that the Holy Spirit can be with me to help guide me. I am reminded of this with all of the bills in Virginia and New York around late term abortions. I need to remind myself that even though I vehemently disagree with even the premise of these bills, the people putting them forward are still loved by God. They have a diametrically opposed view to me, as well as the church, but that does not make them less human. It is easy to go down that path, but we need to remember that they are equally loved by God even if he may not be happy with them either. Showing them this true love will be the only way of conversion of hearts for those willing to listen.

The sacraments are a wonderful reminder to us to live our lives for God and not for ourselves. This will mean that we will see the side of people that will be like the Nazarenes were when they wanted to throw Jesus off the cliff. The thing is though we can become the face of God for someone if we lead our lives this way and it will help cut through the group dynamics in the world today. It also will be a witness to all the things that the love of God truly is as St. Paul told us today.