Homily for November 5, 2006    31st Sunday of Ordinary Time

One day, a biotechnologist calls out to God. "Hey, even though I don’t believe in you, I thought you’d like to know. We have figured out how to create human life. It all started when we discovered the laws of gravity, then magnetic force, then electro-magnetic force, then atomic force, then string theory, the human genome project…We can now make life from nothing just like you." God answers, "Oh yeah? Just like I did in the book? Show me." They arrange to meet in the garden. The scientist reaches down to scoop up a handful of dirt. God says, "Oh no, get your own dirt."

God has authority and power and life and love beyond any acknowledgement or recognition that we can give him. And yet…

Every day, many times a day, we cast our vote…..for God. God the author of life, yea God. God, Love divine, all love excelling. Yea, God! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our redeemer. Yea, Jesus! Jesus, in Him we find peace and reconciliation. Yea, Jesus! God, the giver of the Law, God our Judge. We look around… Any other candidates out there?

There must be a connection between the law of love and the mundane laws of everyday life that guide our relationship with other people.

That connection may be crystal clear (Honor your father and mother) or it may require study or it may be beyond us. But even then there must be a connection. If it does require study, the burden is on people to do the work of study or to allow others the competency, the authority to make decisions that we will abide by.

A mistaken understanding either of love or of law can only lead to trouble. Part of our tradition is the saying "Love God and do what you will." I am convinced that the decline of western civilization is not in the hands of terrorists. The decline of western civilization will occur and is occurring at the traffic light. Each day when I go home, I sit at the red light at Newburg Road and Trevilian Way. There is a red arrow: no left turn. There is a similar light on Shelbyville Road at Dorsey Lane. A local radio talk host, his ignorance no longer in town, was ticketed for disregarding the arrow. He berated the police, the city, everyone possible for such a stupid light, such a stupid law. I know the light. There is a rise in the road right before the light. Oncoming traffic suddenly appears. The right side of his car (and any passenger) could have been hit broadside by an innocent and unsuspecting driver with resulting injuries there. But the law did not apply to him!

Civilization, the community, the assembly, the church falls apart when we do not make room for the other, when we do not hold ourselves back and rely on others holding themselves back, when we keep ourselves to the law and rely on others doing the same. And having laws and consequences. And the root reason for all this must be love: love of God and love of neighbor. In the marriage vows two people who love one another promise to do so in good times and back, in sickness and health, all the days of their life. It is not a promise to keep sickness and bad times away. It is a promise to be there for the other no matter what. There is no release cause: I loved you until you lost your job; you don’t love me because you got sick or didn’t keep me from getting sick.

I recently heard of a father pleading with a lawyer on behalf of his daughter. She had just recently bought her first new car. The week after she made her first payment on it, she took it back to the dealer because her license plate had just come in. When she was leaving the lot, she was hit by another car. The insurance adjustment was made on the blue book value of the car and not on the sticker price.

This is so far removed from any description of the love of Jesus Christ. His mission was not "I will love humanity, my Father’s creation and my brothers and sisters, but not if it means pain, suffering and death and resurrection." His love is expressed in his loss. His gift to us comes at the greatest cost. And that makes it have the greatest worth. And now once again we make that gift, we receive that love, we pledge ourselves to that same mission: our love, in every fashion and every relationship, is worth its cost to us.