It Is Love That I Desire

June 8, 2008

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.

It is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts. Hosea 6:6

"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Matthew 9:12-13

Piety

Based on Psalm 50:1-15

The LORD, the God of gods, has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Virginia God shines forth, perfect in beauty. Our God comes and will not be silent! Devouring tornadoes and hurricanes precede, storming fiercely round about. God summons the heavens above and the earth to the judgment of his people: "Gather my faithful ones before me, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

"I need none of your personal possessions, none of the treasures from your safety deposit box. For everything in the world and above the world and in the oceans is mine. I know every cardinal of your skies; every deer of your forests and fields belong to me. Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for mine is the world and all that fills it."

"Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High. Then call on me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me."

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/060808.shtml

It is not hard to hear Christ saying, "I desire love, not sacrifice." Mercy drops like gentle rain from heaven. Christ calls us even as he calls Matthew at the customs post. We do not deserve the call of Christ. He puts the call on our hearts by the desire we have to do what is right. We hear the call in the attraction we have to his work. He opens our hearts to the goodness we see in others. The desire their goodness calls forth from our own hearts to be like the Christ is the voice of God heard in our hearts. We meet in the gospels and in all the good people in our lives the good person we are meant to be. Our piety is born in the call of Christ to follow him. He puts the desire to be like him on our hearts. Christ desires our love more than any sacrifice we would make. Knowledge of God is more important than holocausts. Piety is our knowledge of God lived in the ways we are like Christ.

We do not deserve the love of God. Others do not deserve our love. Love is a free gift we offer to those we care about. The only limit on love is in the accepting of it. God has loved us in his son being willing to be one of us. We can say God loves us so much he wants to be one of us.

We can love God equally in the fullness of our desires to be like his Son. All the ways we put the Lord of our hearts in front of us reveals the call of Christ. We learn day by day in the gospels we read and the good people who flesh out in their lives God's love for us to follow Christ. How we love each other is how we can say we love the God we do not see. Wherever there is love, God is there.

Action

Action speaks louder than words. It is the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, the taking care of the sick and the visiting of the prisoners that show how much we love Christ. Christ tells us that whatever we do for the least one in our lives, he takes us done for him. Christ is even willing to identify with our needs of each other. The American heresy is rugged individualism.

Our need of another makes us Christ to them. What people do for our needs is how they serve the Christ who is one with our needs. Matthew might be the last person we would call to follow Christ. It might be because he had a too well paying job. God calls through the ways we ask others to share our work of the kingdom with us. The best actions of our lives can be the calls we put out to the Matthews of our lives to follow Christ with us.