Irrevocable

August 17, 2008

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.

Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. Isaiah 56:1

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. Matthew 15:28

Piety

Jesus, Son of God, have pity on me.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/081708.shtml

No one can deserve love. Love to be love is always a free gift. We are always free to love since it is our gift to give. What we ask from God is a love that is greater than anything we could ever imagine. Our love is limited to a moment of time. God’s love is irrevocable because it is forever. He loved us before we were born. He loved us in his son who is the fullness of God’s love. We are his forever if we accept the embrace of Christ from the cross. Christ’s love from the cross embraces our sinfulness to himself and takes away our unworthiness if we allow him to give us his love.

Our piety is seen in how we share the love of Christ. It is not his love if it is stuck in us. The paradox of Christ’s love is that it has to be given away if we want to hold on to it. Love is shown by deeds. It is fleshed out in how we touch each other with our hands and our feet.

Our reaching out to each other is seen by how we take the first steps in getting closer to one another. Are we willing to walk the extra mile?

Love is never static. It is always seen more by the actions of our lives than by the words of our protestations of love. The Canaanite woman asks pity for her daughter. She cries out with the depth of a mother’s love. In our all too busy world we have our schedules and resist requests that do not fit into our plans. Christ hears the intensity of a mother’s love and responds. How do we stay open to what others are asking of us?

Study opens our hearts to the needs of our world. Study gives us answers and suggests what we might be doing to give respite to the hurts of those around us. It is not wise to jump into the different tasks that are presented to us. There is just so much time for what needs to be done. Christ initially turns down the request of the Canaanite woman because he has so much to do with the Hebrew people. The cry of the poor is the voice of the Spirit. Christ learned by the pain of this woman that his mission was bigger than he ever thought it to be. The Spirit instructs our hearts too by the cry of the needy around us.

Action

How we respond is a learned experience that helps us decide what we need to do.

Action in our lives can be nothing more than the response to the loudest cry about us. Our action can flow out of the plan that is developed by our study of the environment around us. The big question that needs to be on our hearts is a threefold question. What was I doing for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What will I do for Christ?

Nothing is too little to be asked of the Lord. His love is there forever ready to be asked for more. For us to be fully open to his love, we need to be attentive to the littlest request that come our way. The ordinary becomes extraordinary by this means of attentiveness of the least one of our friends. Whatever we are doing, we do it for love of Christ in the one we serve. God is in our love for one another.