This week's homily

OUR FEARFUL/FEARLESS GENERATION

To be a success in life one has to be motivated, either by self or by someone else. It is not surprising then that in our success-oriented culture there are a lot of motivational speakers not only in sports but also in business and politics. These motivational speakers have the ability to move their audiences because a motive is not a motive until it moves.

Jesus was the greatest motivational speaker ever to walk the face of the earth. He knew how to use both the carrot and the stick, the ultimate carrot and stick, the greatest reward and the greatest punishment, Heaven and Hell. These two dogmas are telling us that free will is not only our greatest dignity, but also our most awesome responsibility. Today all of the emphasis is on the dignity of free will and very little on its responsibility.

There seems to be a common misunderstanding that love and fear are mutually exclusive. The truth is that, at least in this life, they are mutually inclusive. But is it not true that “Perfect love casts out fear?” Yes, but this perfect love is not to be found in this life. It is only found in the next life where there is no possibility of losing the beloved.

In this life “fearless love” is a contradiction in terms. We fear because we love. We fear losing the beloved. And we fear in proportion as we love. Our fear is a barometer of our love. And today that barometer indicates that in spite of all of the glib talk, and loud protestations of love, the love we have for God is at a low level. CLICK HERE for the entire homily

 

 

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