Seventh Sunday of Easter, cycle B

JOHN 15:9-17
YOU HAVE TO BE PRETTY DENSE NEVER TO HAVE HEARD THE STATEMENT IN JOHN'S EPISTLE – GOD IS LOVE. AND IT GOES ON, “AND WHOEVER REMAINS IN LOVE REMAINS IN GOD, AND GOD IN HIM.” THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE CONCLUDED THAT WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IS TO LOVE, AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT CHURCH YOU GO TO. IN FACT, THERE IS A SMALL RELIGION CALLED THE BAHAI FAITH, WHICH ORIGINATED IN PERSIA. THEIR TEACHING IS THAT GOD ESTABLISHED ALL THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD, AND IF YOU STRIP AWAY ALL THE SUPERSTITIONS, THE BARNACLES, YOU FIND THAT THEY ARE ALL BASICALLY THE SAME. AND BASICALLY WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IS THAT WE LOVE GOD AND LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR, NOTHING ELSE REALLY MATTERS.
NOW THERE IS SOME TRUTH IN THE STATEMENT, “GOD IS LOVE.” AFTER ALL, IT'S IN HE BIBLE, AND WAS RECORDED BY ONE OF JESUS' APOSTLES. BUT THERE IS A DANGER IN THAT STATEMENT. BECAUSE IF WE SAY “GOD IS LOVE,” WE MIGHT VERY WELL CONCLUDE THAT “LOVE IS GOD” AND END UP WORSHIPING LOVE. AND THAT'S WHAT WE DO WHEN WE SAY THAT LOVE TRUMPS EVERYTHING; ALL IS PERMITTED IF THERE IS ENOUGH LOVE. WHY CAN'T A GAY COUPLE GET MARRIED? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. WHY SHOULDN'T A DIVORCED CATHOLIC RE-MARRY? AFTER ALL, DOESN'T LOVE COUNT HERE? WHY SHOULDN'T MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER SLEEP WITH HER BOYFRIEND? AFTER ALL, THEY ARE IN LOVE. AND WHY SHOULD I GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY? AFTER ALL, I'M A LOVING PERSON. I'VE EVEN HEARD THE OPINION THAT ABORTION IS SOMETIMES A LOVING ACT; AFTER ALL, IS IT MORE LOVING TO BRING THE CHILD INTO A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN'T CARE FOR HER OR PROVIDE A DECENT LIFE, OR IS IT MORE LOVING TO NOT HAVE THE CHILD, THUS SPARING HER ALL THE GRIEF OF A LIFE WITHOUT EVERYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO PROVIDE FOR HER? LOVE IS A GREAT EXCUSE, AND WE HUMAN BEINGS, SO DAMAGED BY ORIGINAL SIN, ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A GOOD EXCUSE FOR OUR BEHAVIOR.
LOVE IS NOT GOD. OUR GOSPEL STANDS IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE EPISTLE. THE GOSPEL READING IS ABOUT TRUTH, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF HAVING TRUTH. JESUS SAYS, “I GAVE THEM YOUR WORD, AND THE WORLD HATED THEM.” HE REMINDS US THAT WE DON'T BELONG TO THE WORLD, JUST AS HE DOESN'T. AND EVEN THOUGH THE TRUTH WE ARE GIVEN LEADS US TO BE HATED BY THE WORLD, JESUS NEVERTHELESS PRAYS THAT WE WILL BE CONSECRATED IN TRUTH.
IF WE JUST LOVE, AND NEVER WORRY ABOUT TRUTH, THE WORLD WILL CERTAINLY NOT HATE US, IT WILL LOVE US. AS THE OLD SONG GOES, “EVERYBODY LOVES A LOVER.” BUT THE GOSPEL SEEMS TO SAY THAT WE HAD BETTER STRIVE TO UNFOLD AND UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH THAT COMES TO US FROM GOD THE FATHER, THROUGH JESUS, AND OUT TO THE WHOLE WORLD THROUGH THE APOSTLES WHO WERE CONSECRATED IN THE TRUTH BY JESUS HIMSELF.
AND WE CAN TELL HOW WELL WE ARE CONSECRATED IN THE TRUTH BY WHETHER THE WORLD HATES US.
THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF INTERESTING THINGS IN THE NEWS LATELY. CARRIE PREJEAN, MISS CALIFORNIA AND THE RUNNER UP IN THE MISS AMERICA CONTEST, GAVE THE OPINION THAT MARRIAGE SHOULD BE BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMEN, ALTHOUGH SHE HASTENED TO ADD THAT THIS WAS JUST HER OPINION. SHE WAS SAVAGED BY MANY PEOPLE, AND HER CROWN WAS ALMOST TAKEN AWAY. BARAK OBAMA SAID EXACTLY THE SAME THING, AND NOT A WORD OF PROTEST AROSE. WHY? ONE COLUMNIST STATED THAT IT WAS BECAUSE WE KNEW OUR PRESIDENT DIDN'T MEAN IT. AND YOU KNOW, IT'S TRUE. WE HEAR STATEMENTS FROM OUR POLITICIANS, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM – I'M NOT SINGLING OUT OBAMA, HE'S JUST ANOTHER POLITICIAN – AND IF WE LIKE THEM OTHERWISE, BUT THEY SAY SOMETHING WE DISAGREE WITH, OUR RESPONSE IS THAT HE OR SHE REALLY DOESN'T MEAN THAT. IN OUR COUNTRY, WE ARE ONLY BOTHERED WHEN ONE OF OUR LEADERS SEEMS TO HAVE AN UNSHAKABLE OPINION; THEN WE SUSPECT THEY ARE FANATICS.
WE CATHOLICS AREN'T ANY DIFFERENT. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT OUR CHURCH HAS A LOT OF DIFFICULT TEACHINGS. ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL IS WRONG; ABORTION IS MURDER; EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO A LIVING WAGE (YES, THAT'S A CATHOLIC IDEA); WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GO TO MASS ON SUNDAY UNDER PAIN OF SIN; DIVORCE IS NOT PERMITTED – AND I COULD GO ON. NOT ONLY DOES OUR CHURCH HAVE SOME DIFFICULT TEACHINGS THAT WE ALMOST NEVER HEAR ABOUT BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT, BUT OUR CHURCH ALSO TEACHES ALL THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST, MOST OF WHICH WE SHARE WITH OTHER CHRISTIAN BODIES – THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY FOR ONE EXAMPLE; THE CALL TO POVERTY, CHASTITY, AND OBEDIENCE AS BEFITS OUR STATE IN LIFE.
BUT THE REASON WE CATHOLICS AREN'T HATED BY THE WORLD, AT LEAST IN THIS COUNTRY, IS BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE WE MEAN WHAT WE PROFESS. AFTER ALL, IT IS OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WHO CARES TO LOOK THAT MOST CATHOLICS DON'T LIVE AS THOUGH THE CHURCH HAS THE TRUTH.
TO BE CONSECRATED IN THE TRUTH IS TO KNOW WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES AS THE TRUTH, AND THEN TO COMMIT OURSELVES, NOT JUST TO NOD AGREEMENT, NOT TO KEEP SILENT WHEN WE CONFRONT THE OPPOSITE, BUT TO LIVE THE TRUTH. THAT'S NEVER CONVENIENT OR COMFORTABLE, NEVER.
I THINK MOST OF US FALL SHORT. I KNOW I DO. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I MAKE A DIFFICULT CHOICE, A CHOICE TO FOLLOW THE CHURCH EVEN WHEN I MAY NOT COMPLETELY AGREE, EVEN WHEN IT WILL COST ME SOMETHING. AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I DISCOVER WHAT I NEED TO RELEARN OVER AND OVER AGAIN; THERE IS A CONNECTION BETWEEN BEING CONSECRATED IN TRUTH, AND ABIDING IN LOVE, AND THUS IN GOD. YOU CAN'T DO ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER.
GOD IS LOVE, AND HE WHO REMAINS IN LOVE, REMAIN IN GOD. BUT LOVE IS NOT GOD.