In the gospel Jesus speaks in paradoxes [Aramaic, Hebrew, Semitic languages Jesus
spoke used riddles/paradoxes to teach, that the listener may pause, think and learn
truths of life]: ‘one who loves family more than me, not worthy of me; one who does not
take up one’s cross and follow me, not worthy of me; you think you find your life, you
lose it; you lose your life for my sake, you find it; you welcome others, you welcome
me’. These sayings explain the attitude of Jesus himself that a follower of Christ is
invited to live. Loving God with whole heart and strength is our fundamental calling;
loving care for others flows from our awareness that we have our being from God; in
loving others we share God’s concern for the wellbeing of all his creation. Paul writes to
Philippians: ‘though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not hold on to his glory but
emptied himself and became one like us’; he died on the cross to reveal life in the
resurrection-losing life to find life. Jesus said, ‘those who do the will of my Father are
my mother, brothers, sisters’. Our love for family, friends and others becomes fruitful
when it is in conformity with our love for God. The function of love and God’s will for a
Christian is to shape our family and the world into the kingdom of God, and that
fairness, peace and joy may reign again in the world.
Welcoming/hospitality is Jesus’ own attitude; Jesus welcomed the sinners, the poor,
the outcasts, foreigners [Romans, Samaritans, Greeks etc.]; he shared his gracious
presence with them that they received as healing, liberation from all bondages, and as
right relationship with fellow-beings and all creation. Christ desires in us to reach out to
all with care and that makes us ministers of Christ, servants of love. Your word
becomes Christ’s word that encourages, gives hope and mends a broken heart. Your
sharing is Christ’s sharing to quench/satisfy the thirst or hunger of someone longing to
be accepted and redeemed. Your presence is Christ’s presence to reconcile divided
minds, to bring justice to the wronged/oppressed and peace to troubled hearts. Mary’s
hospitality welcomed the Eternal Word and she gave Jesus, God’s love, to the world;
her hospitality brought an outpouring of the Spirit in her and over Elizabeth when she
visited her. Acts of hospitality, charity is overflowing of Spirit upon us and the recipients
of our presence/gifts. Christ in you challenges others to love and Spirit touches others
through you!
Elena Frings, a young woman in her 20s was told by her doctor that her heart was so
weak that she had only six months to live. She decided to leave her office job in
Santiago, Chile and work as a volunteer community organizer among the city’s slumdwellers.
That way I will die happy, she said to a friend. She became well-known for her
work among those poor people that once she was invited to New York to give a
presentation. There she met a heart surgeon who successfully operated on her
defective heart. She went back to her country to continue her work among the
marginalized of society. It was thought of death that gave new meaning and direction
to her life, not the surgery. This is what Jesus meant when he said: lose your life, to find
it! Elena let go her false sense of security and unlearned what she thought of life to
give life a new meaning. The corona pandemic is teaching the world to deconstruct
false assumptions about God and humanity [God is the foundation/Father/mother of all
that exists; humans are created in the image of God and that makes them one family]
and seek justice and peace of the kingdom of God by mutual love!