***
“Love your God… Love your neighbor.”
What a timely Gospel this is in light of what happened recently in Pittsburgh, along with countless other acts of violence, hatred and discrimination that will unfold in our nation and in our world today.
The truth is the Gospel challenges us to see everyone as created equally by God, regardless of their race, religion, language, or nationality.
We must love them all, even when they do not love us.
***
But let’s zoom in on those neighbors whom we should find easiest to love – our spouse, our children, and our parents.
In a word, our family… Yours and mine.
For many of us, the people whom we live with are our most intimate neighbors, whom we build our lives around and with whom we share our joys and sorrows, successes and failures.
If we are to love anyone the way we love our selves – as the Gospel challenges us to do – then it certainly starts at home.
And loving homes begin with loving couples.
***
Perhaps the most famous loving couple in literary history is Romeo and Juliet. Their love has inspired people for centuries. And, they can still inspire us to love one another today.
How many of us have read the play Romeo and Juliet, perhaps in high school English?
You may remember the scene when Juliet looks down from her balcony upon Romeo and says, “Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”
***
“The more I give to you…the more I seem to have.”
***
Juliet learned to see the world through Romeo’s eyes to the point that that his happiness led to hers.
That is the strange effect of love.
Love draws us out of our selfish ways; it inspires us to dream our lover’s dreams, to please our lover rather than pleasing ourselves, because the more we give, the more have.
Parents: think of the delight you experience when your children succeed.
Teachers: the joy you experience when your students learn how to read.
Or to all of us: the peace that comes from forgiving a neighbor who’s hurt us…or the satisfaction we find in giving the perfect gift.
***
If Juliet is right, then the more we give to anyone, the happier we become.
Seeing the world through another person’s eyes – regardless of their skin color, religion, or nationality – makes us wiser, more joyful, and compassionate people.
***
The same is true in our relationship with God. The more time we spend in service, the more we study his Word, the more we pray, the happier we become.
***
So how do I give my heart to my family, my hands to my neighbors, and my treasure to the poor?
***
How much of myself do I give away to my neighbor? And how much do I keep?
***
This is our invitation as Christians, to love like Juliet.
Or, better said, to love like Jesus, who gave everything for us from the balcony of his Cross. There we see Saint Paul’s words on love lived out concretely.
As Paul tells us, “Love is patient, love is kind… It does not seek its own interests, it does not brood over injury. Love believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
In every time and place, the more we give, the more we have.