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Gospel: Luke 6: 27-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I read a story this week about a 70-year-old woman from northern Italy whose name was Marinella Beretta. Police found her sitting at her kitchen table … more than two years after she died.
They entered her home after neighbors called them, complaining about trees leaning over in her unkept garden. No one had seen Marinella since the beginning of the pandemic.
Nor did anyone try to visit. Neighbors say they just thought she moved.
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“What happened to Marinella Beretta in Como,” the Italian Minister of Families later wrote on Facebook, “the forgotten loneliness, hurts our consciences.”
It was tragic that she died alone.
But worse, she lived … alone.
Nobody bothered to knock on the closed gate of her tiny cottage in nearly 1,000 days.
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If only Marinella’s story was uncommon.
Would you believe that nearly 40 percent of Italians over the age of 75 live alone? Almost the same number say they have no relatives or friends to call upon.
This is particularly striking to me, since Italians are traditionally known to be very family centered.
Such a startling truth begs the question, “What do we owe one another?” Or, “how much effort should we put into building a community for all generations to journey together?”
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Loneliness is not something that only affects seniors. It seeps into the heart of every human being at some point in time.
I’m thinking, in particular, about our young people, many of whom have struggled terribly during this pandemic.
So, again, “What do we owe one another?” Are we our brother’s keeper?
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us how to relate to one another.
He tells us to do four things, in particular: “to love, do good, bless, and pray,” for our neighbors, regardless of whether we consider them a “friend” or an “enemy.”
He also tells us not to do two other things: do not judge and do not condemn.
“For the measure with which you measure,” he says, “will be measured out to you.” Meaning, we should treat other people the way that we want God to treat us.
We want God to be kind to us, so we should be kind to others. We want God to visit us, to speak to us, to listen to us. We should do the same to others. We want God to forgive us when we make mistakes. We should have the same attitude towards all.
As Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us, “It is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
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Our parish vision statement begins with the words, “ALL generations,” meaning we challenge ourselves to become a community that is concerned about the needs and desires of everyone – “all generations.”
One desire in every human heart is the desire to belong, something, it seems, that went unsatisfied in Marinella.
For this very reason, we’ve offered events like High Tea at High Noon for seniors, the Color Run for our youth, a Mass of Remembrance for those who mourn, and the gala last Thursday for us to celebrate our future together.
Our pastoral council is also planning other events in the coming months. I’m excited, in particular, about a series of events we’re planning on mental health, which may develop into a broader mental health ministry.
We hope to offer a retreat for “all generations,” focusing on ways to deal with stress, loneliness, and anxiety, as well as a speaker series to dive deeper into this reality.
“Blessed are you,” Jesus says, when we do these things. Blessed are we when we come together as a community, when we volunteer our time, when we welcome and pray for one another, when we care about the health of our neighbor.
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So, who is the “Marinella” in my life? Who is one person whom I can visit, pray for, or listen to? Who can I invite to join our community of “all generations journeying together”?
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“Whatever you do to these, the least of my brothers and sisters,” Jesus says, “you do to me.”
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Image credits: (1) Desert Southwest Conference (2) OI Canadian (3) stevewilmotauthor.com
