*****
“To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…”
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Think about it, there must be higher love Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above. Without it life is wasted time. Look inside your heart, I’ll look inside mine. Things look so bad everywhere In this whole world what is fair? We walk blind, and we try to see Falling behind in what could be.
Bring me a higher love, bring me a higher love, bring me a higher love, where’s that higher love I keep thinking of?
- sung by Steve Winwood
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In today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to a “higher” love. Jesus urges us to avoid practicing or pursuing spiritual minimalism, i.e., looking to do only the bare minimum of what is required or living life by the “good enough” method – quid pro quo won’t cut it.
Jesus’ “higher love” is really at the heart of Francis’ notion of “devotion.” He wrote:
“Genuine, living devotion presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God. Yet it is not always love as such. Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to God’s Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also do the good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion…In addition, it arouses us to do quickly and lovingly as many good works as possible, both those commanded and those merely counseled or inspired.” (IDL, Part 1, Ch. 1)
God, help us to live this higher love. Help us to avoid trying to simply “get by” in life; help us to understand what it means to truly live…to do good, without expecting anything back. “Higher love” is its own reward.*****
“He had been on the mountaintop and had faced the tremendous task that lay ahead of him. He had decided to stake his life on the redemption of the world. And now he had come back down to find his nearest followers – his own chosen men – beaten and baffled and helpless and ineffective. The thing, for the moment, must have daunted even Jesus. He must have had a sudden realization of what anyone else would have called the hopelessness of his task. He must at that moment have almost despaired of the attempt to change human nature and to make men of the world into men of God.”
“How did he meet the moment of despair? ‘Bring the boy to me,’ he said. When we cannot deal with the ultimate situation, the thing to do is to deal with the situation which confronts us at the moment. It was as if Jesus said, ‘I do not know how I am ever going to change these disciples of mine, but I can at this moment help this boy. Let us get on with the present task, and not despair of the future.’”
“Again, and again that is the way to avoid despair. If we sit and think about the state of the world, we may well become very depressed; then let us get to action in our own small corner of the world. We may sometimes despair of the church; then let us get to action in our own small part of the church. Jesus did not sit appalled and paralyzed at the slowness of men’s minds; he dealt with the immediate situation.”
“The surest way to avoid pessimism and despair is to take what immediate action we can – and there is always something to be done.”
*****
“Who do you say that I am?”
On the web site of the Catholic News Agency, we find the following entry for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter:
“The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter celebrates the papacy and St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome. St. Peter's original name was Simon. He was married with children and was living and working in Capernaum as a fisherman when Jesus called him to be one of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus bestowed to Peter a special place among the Apostles. He was one of the three who were with Christ on special occasions, such as the Transfiguration of Christ and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was the only Apostle to whom Christ appeared on the first day after the Resurrection. Peter, in turn, often spoke on behalf of the Apostles.”
“When Jesus asked the Apostles: ‘Who do men say that the Son of Man is?’ Simon replied: ‘Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ And Jesus said: ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood have not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: That you are Peter [Cephas, a rock], and upon this rock [Cephas] I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven’. (Mt 16:13-20) In saying this Jesus made St. Peter the head of the entire community of believers and placed the spiritual guidance of the faithful in St. Peter’s hands.”
The post on the web site continues: “However, St. Peter was not without faults…” Now there’s an understatement!
As we celebrate the “Chair of Peter,” don’t forget that Jesus has likewise prepared a chair – a place, a role – for each and every one of us in continuing the work of God’s Kingdom.
Like Peter, today do we have the courage to take our place?
*****
“Whoever is not against us is for us."
William Barclay sees this selection from the Gospel of Mark as a lesson in tolerance, a lesson that nearly everyone needs to learn:
• “Every person has a right to his own thoughts. Every person has a right to think things out and to think them through until he comes to his own conclusions and his own beliefs. And that is a right we should respect. We are too often apt to condemn what we do not understand.”
• “Not only must we concede to every person to right to do his own thinking, we must also concede the right to a person to do his own speaking.”
• “We must remember that any doctrine or belief must finally be judged by the kind of people it produces.”
• “We may hate a person’s beliefs, but we must never hate the person. We may wish to eliminate what the person teaches, but we must never wish to eliminate the person.”
It takes all kinds of people to continue the work of God. At the end of the day, it matters little whether this person or that person is a member of our group or tribe – what matters is that God’s work is getting done.
No matter who they are…or aren’t.
*****
"Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:
“The Sacred Spouse declares that he is always pleased to accept the great deeds of devout persons, that their least and lowest deeds are also acceptable to him, and that to serve him as he wishes we must have great care to serve him well both in great, lofty matters and in small, unimportant things.” (IDL, Part 3, Ch. 35) In an obvious reference to Jesus’ own words in today’s Gospel, Francis de Sales continued:
“For a single cup of water, God has promised to his faithful a sea of perfect bliss. Since such opportunities present themselves from moment to moment it will be a great means of storing up vast spiritual riches if you only use them well.” (IDL, Part 3, Ch. 35)
Something so simple as offering someone a cup of water of as a means of salvation? Don’t take my word for it – listen to Jesus himself.
*****
“Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another…”
In the movie Kindergarten Cop (1990) Detective John Kimble (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher. After the first day, he is on the brink of defeat. Frustrated that he has absolutely no control over his preschoolers, he confides his fears to his partner, Phoebe O’Hara:
Kimble: “They’re pushing me around.”
O’Hara: “Who?”
Kimble: “The kids. They’re walking all over me.”
O’Hara: “Listen, if you walk into this situation showing fear, you’re dead. And those kids know you’re scared.”
Kimble: “No fear?”
O’Hara: “No fear.” (The next morning Detective Kimble lays down the law.)
Kimble: “Today, we’re going to play a new fun game. It’s POLICE SCHOOL. I’m going to be the sheriff and you’re going to be my deputy trainees.”
Kids: (In unison) “Uuuhhhh.”
Kimble: “C’mon, stop whining! You kids are soft. You lack discipline. I’ve got news for you: You’re mine now! You belong to me! Time to turn mush into muscle. No more complaining!”
This scene offers a comical treatment of what can become a serious malady: chronic whining or complaining. Let’s be honest – we’ve all done it. We’ve all whined; we’ve all complained. But as Detective Kimble suggests, complaining may reveal far less about how hard and demanding life can be and disclose more about how soft, sensitive and undisciplined we are.
Take to heart St. Francis de Sales’ advice on this subject:
“Complain as little as possible…A person who complains commits a sin by doing so, since self-love always feels that injuries are worse than they really are. Above all, do not complain to irascible or fault-finding persons. If there is just occasion for complaining to someone either to correct an offense or restore peace of mind, do so only with those who are even-tempered and really love God. Otherwise, instead of calming your mind the others will stir up worse difficulties and instead of pulling out the thorn that is hurting you they will drive it even deeper into your foot.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, On Patience)
Sure, life is tough. Sure, relationships are challenging. Sure, disappointment is hard. Sure, things aren’t always fair. If stuff needs to be addressed, then simply address it, but don’t make it worse by complaining and whining about it.
*****
“The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these…
Why did Jesus hold children in such high esteem? William Barclay offers these thoughts:
• “There is the child’s humility…The child has not yet learned to think in terms of place and pride and prestige. He has not yet learned to discover the importance of himself.”
• “There is the child’s obedience. True, a child is often disobedient, but, paradox though it may seem, its natural instinct is to obey. The child has not yet learned the pride and the false independence which separate a man from his fellow-men and from God.”
• “There is the child’s trust…acceptance of authority and confidence in other people.”
• “The child has a short memory. It hasn’t yet learned to hold grudges and nourish bitterness. Even when unjustly treated – and who of us is not sometimes unjust to children – the child forgets and forgets so completely that it does not even need to forgive.”
“Indeed, of such is the Kingdom of God.”
How might we imitate the example of children today?
