Homily for Oct 25

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Do you have a “sacred space” in your home? When I was a student at Blessed Sacrament School in the 1960’s, my teachers emphasized the importance of having a special place for prayer in our bedrooms. I treasured quiet moments in my little corner of the room I shared with my brother. I developed a ritual which consisted in reading from the lives of the saints and attempting to follow the liturgy of the day. Years later these moments with God resonated with the longing expressed by ancient Israel in Psalm 63:

“O God, you are my God-for you I long! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts…”

Jesus was asked by a scholar of the Law about the greatest commandment. His answer was simply a recitation of the prayer with which every synagogue service begins –the “schema” of Israel:

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Dt 6: 4-5)

To this “greatest commandment” Jesus added another, lesser commandment, and implied that it flowed directly from the first:

“Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against you fellow countryman. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18)

The Israelites always lived among alien peoples; their land was a crossroad of the world. We, too, live within an international community; but perhaps the greatest challenge has to do with the neighbor in my house or the classmate who rubs me the wrong way. The earliest followers of Jesus gathered weekly to break the bread of Eucharist which gave them the grace and courage to “be” Eucharist in the place where the mystery of the Church is most fully realized – the home!

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Bill Foley