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Browsing Father Michael Deering's Sunday Homilies

We have to become love!

Homily originally presented February 3, 2019

 

 We have to become love!

 

Where do you want to go when you die?

Most people will answer, “I want to go to Heaven!”

Right answer!

There’s one and only one ... good place to be in eternity ... and that’s in Heaven.

 

As people of faith, we know that Heaven is where God lives and reigns in an everlasting kingdom … a place of peace and happiness … that will never end!

 

Sounds wonderful … doesn’t it?       You bet!

 

So ... what do we need to do to go to Heaven after we die?

 

We grow up hearing that to go to Heaven you must be good.

 

We also grow up hearing that to go to Heaven you must be holy.

 

Well, today ... St Paul tells us that to go to Heaven … you must be love.

 

Think about that!

We’re used to hearing about being good ... and trying to be good.

We’re used to hearing about being holy ... and trying to be holy.

 

And we may have heard about being “loving” ... and trying to beloving”.

 

But to become “love”  ... to actually strive to become “love” ...

that may well be something we’ve not contemplated before.

 

But if we think about this ... it makes every bit of sense ...

          because it speaks to another attribute of God.

 

Is God good?        Yes, God is all good!

Is God holy?         Yes, God is all holy!

 

Is God love?          Yes, God is love!

 

This is the exact description of God given in the Bible!

 

In the First Letter of St. John, he writes two different times, “God is love.”

 

And so, if God lives in Heaven … and God is love …, then the only way for us to get into Heaven and be with Him is for us to become like Himin love.

 

 

 

Think about that!  For us to go to Heaven

we have to be good, we have to be holy … and we have to be love!

 

There’s nothing apart from love in Heaven … it simply won’t fit!

 

So knowing this, we can see that our journey of transformation in life ...

 is not just a growing in goodness,

  and it’s not just a growing in holiness,

 

No, it’s both of those and more … it’s also and especially … a growing in love!

 

In fact, that’s the basis of the 2 Commandments of Jesus.

He said, Love God” … and … “Love your neighbor.”

And how did He say to love your neighbor? Love one another as I love you.”

 

So what does love look like?

 

St. Paul gave us a powerful description in the passage from

his First Letter to the Corinthians just proclaimed!

 

He tells us what love is and he tells us what love is not!

 

He says,

“Love is patient, love is kind.”

He says,

“Love is not jealous, pompous, rude or quick-tempered!”

 

these two guidelines alonegive all of us ... a great many things

to work on and be transformed in!

 

How are we when it comes to being patient with others and with ourselves?

This is one of the most common admissions in Confession:

Father, I have no patience with: my spouse, my kids, my parents, my co-workers.

 

We’re living in a world that is increasingly busy and trying our patience.

But ... love is patient!     And we become patient as we become love.

 

Love is kind. Are we genuinely kind to othersthose we know & those we don’t?

Those we like and those we don’t?

 

Love is not jealous.    Are we jealous of others … coveting their gifts …

or are we able to acknowledge the gifts of others

while we appreciate the gifts we’ve been given ... sharing them freely with others?

 

“Love is not rude or quick-tempered!”    Do we count to 10 and bite our tongue?

 

It’s interesting that this particular passage on the do’s and don’ts of love from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians is one of the most popular readings chosen by couples to be read at Mass on their Wedding Day!

 

It’s as if they know that St. Paul’s description of love is key to the success of their marriage … that holy union on earth that mirrors the holy union of God in Heaven

 

Yes, couples seeking marriage seem to understand how absolutely essential love is!

 

Paul tells us today, no matter what other gifts you may have,  

if you don’t have love, you have nothing and you will gain nothing!

 

You can have full knowledge,

you can have deep faith; but without love you have nothing!

Those are powerful words, and they’re right in line with our understanding

of what it takes to get into Heaven.

 

What does it take ... to get into Heaven?

You must become love.

 

To be one with God who is love, we must become like Him in love!

We must love as He loves!

 

That means we must love ... like Him: freely and fully.

 

You know love is commonly broken into 3 different categories.

 Filial Love, which is the love between family members and friends.

Amore Love, which is the romantic love between spouses.

Agape Love, which is loving for no reason at all, regardless if love is returned.

 

This is Godly love.

We say, “God doesn’t love us because we are good ...

God loves us because He is good!”

 

Who is God?        God is love!

If God is love, that means that all He can do is love!

We are so blessed for this ... God loves us unconditionally, because He is Love!

 

Do you believe that?

 

I know someone who does! A student wrote me a card this week as a gift for Catholic Schools Week.     

 

I got it Friday as walked the halls of the School.

 

Inside it says,

I love you Father Deering,

Smiley face ... cross

Ashton Bass-Smith

 

And on the cover it says:

God is love.

 

From one of our students! Who wrote this? A Senior student in religion class?

No!    Ashton is a Kindergarten student.

It’s her first year here at Holy Spirit School.

And as a result of her home training and school training ...

she is able to express the same truth ...

that St. John wrote in his First Letter in the Bible ...

God is love!

 

God is love and to be with Him we have to become like Him in love.

 

Oh, to love like that!      Is that even possible?

By ourselves no!             but with the grace of God, all things are possible.

 

We can only grow in love by drawing on the source of love, who is God himself.

 

That means that we need to stay connected with the source of Love. How?

 by faithfully attending Sunday Mass and by receiving the Sacraments

and by nurturing our daily Prayer life.

 

Are we people of Faith? Yes!

 

Are we people of Hope? Yes … Paul says, “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but (one day we will see Him) face to face.”

 

Are we people of Love? Yes … we are people of God and God is Love!

 

How important is love! Paul declares today,

“So faith, hope and love remain, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

 

As we live each day let’s contemplate the transformations we need to make:

We need to become good; we need to become holy; and we need to become love!

 

It’s the only way we’ll ever get to Heaven …

it’s the only way we’ll get to meet … Love Itself!

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