Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s been said that to be strong in any way, we must first be strong in heart. Whether we seek physical strength, endurance, financial strength, knowledge, wisdom, or perseverance, we must first have the “strength of the inner self” that Paul writes about. Without the heart to keep at it, we never develop any other strength. So what does it take to develop a strong heart? Is it knowledge? Is it a problem to be figured out and solved? Paul prays to God to send us what we need: Love.
Paul ‘Kneels before the Father,’ asking that the Spirit will come and root us in love. We must be grounded in love to have inner strength. It makes sense; we must see ourselves and others as God sees us; with Love. Only loving eyes can respond with strength to accomplish what must be done. Love is the beginning of all other virtues. In love, the gifts of the Spirit overflow; we meet others and become patient, kind, generous, faithful… This strength ‘surpasses knowledge.’ We generally know what’s good for us, but how often do we choose something bad instead? This is a failure to love ourselves as God loves us. In the same way, we all know how to treat one-another. It’s only when some other priority gets in front of love that we start to sin against and abuse our neighbor. When I want to be right more than I want to love, I have political arguments. When I want to win more than to love, I get into power struggles. When I want to have convenience instead of love, I spend money in ways that hurt the poor and the environment.
Love also begets Joy. The psalmist today proclaims the Lord’s greatness, and echoes Paul’s prayer for an experience of the fullness of God. The Earth is full of this goodness! It doesn’t seem that way sometimes, because the bad gets more of our mental space than the good. But love and joy are our strength in the midst of darkness. We do have real problems: sexual abuse, political chaos, misplaced anger, and environmental catastrophe are all around. But Love is the only solution that will give us the strength and wisdom to confront these challenges. God’s Love drives us to remake the world, dancing while we do it.
There will be division over such statements. Some say that “The only solution is Love” is a fantasy, and not at all how the world really works. But God’s word is clear. The Creator of the universe and the Author of us all is telling us the secret of life, transformation, and resurrection: Love. Like Paul, may we kneel and beg the Spirit to send us this holy love, to open our hearts to the height and breadth and depth and fullness of God’s love, so that everything we do and all that we are may be transformed into the Kingdom that God desires for us. Amen.
Chris Nieport