Homily, October 6, 2024
From The Pastor
God is what God does. God is love. God loves. God is a relationship of persons in perfect communion, unity, undivided in identity, purpose, and intention. God is the purity of love in the Divine essence. The reading from the Book of Genesis today is a perfect example of the Divine identity and expression.
God gives and expresses who God is in the work of creation and the formation of the human person. As a Trinity of persons, God is not and cannot be alone. God is the essence of what it means to be in relationship expressed in the perfect flow of mutual love with a singular intention; the union of all that is.
Consider the wisdom of the inspired insight of the biblical author who writes: ‘The Lord God said: “It is not good for the man (human person) to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.’’ ’ Human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. God made us male and female in the physical bodily forms that most pleased God. God made us in the image of his own liking. More deeply, God made us in the image of the Divine Self. God made us out of love, for the sake of love, to be loving of ourselves, others, and God.
In the Divine essence of pure love in the union of perfect relationship, God created human beings to be an image of the Divine nature. Human beings share the DNA of the Divine nature in our endless longing for love, wholeness, and union with another. This is most richly expressed in the union of Christian marriage. It is the deepest longing of all human beings to know and to be known deeply by another. It is deep in our bones to be in relationships through which we come to know ourselves more deeply in the freedom of knowing and loving another. Love by nature is not singular. Love by nature is known and realized in free, mutual, self-giving love for another. This does not invalidate the single lifestyle for those persons committed to self-giving love in religious life, priesthood, or other expressions of committed love that nourish and enrich life for and with others.
Spiritually, marriage is a mirror of Divine love. In the reality of human love, this ideal does not mean perfection. Divine perfection will not be realized this side of heaven. In the Divine wisdom, marriage serves the dynamic of our inner longing for bonds of love that awaken the soul to the presence of God. Isn’t this why people marry? Because they see and know themselves more clearly through the love of the other. Mutual love freely shared with another gives new life to each person. A new energy, creativity, commitment, and contentment is found. The soul is awakened to the inner nature of love within. A larger love is realized that reveals the Divine love in each of us.
This is the mirror. This is why marriage is a sacrament. This kind of love reveals and awakens the presence of God not only in the self but is also seen and experienced in the other. This is one expression of the phrase ‘holy longing.’ This is not just a Christian phrase. All world religions, poets, authors, and lovers use this expression. From beginning to end, this holy longing is our longing for God, for wholeness, for oneness with the love from which we came and long to return. Ponder this. What is your deepest longing? If you are honest, it is for love, to be known, to be valued, a part of, and meaningful to another and others.
This may sound a million miles from where you are in life or marriage, but it is not. The ideal of God must be worked out and realized in the messiness and heartache of daily living. Life and relationships are hard. They demand struggle, commitment, compromise, and ready forgiveness. The ideal will only be realized in the struggle to persevere in the daily mess in the hope of loves promise.
I am an imperfect man with my share of faults and weaknesses, but I know God has called me to be a priest; to commit the love that lives in me to the service of faith to sharing the gospel to the best of my ability. Is it perfect? No. Do I fail? Yes. Do I fall, get frustrated, or selfish? Yes. But the love in me persists, knowing the presence and action of God remains active in me.
No marriage is perfect. I have known people with great marriages filled with grace and fruitful love, and there are still struggles. I have known people in hard, wounded, and messy marriages. Somehow, they persevere. Sometimes not. Even in the trials, the grace of God is present. Love conveys grace even in the hardest of times. Remember your love for your spouse is a mirror or an image of your longing for God.
No one is expected to stay in an unresolvable situation of abuse, violence, persistent infidelity, or endless disdain. You are an image of God made for love. Marriage, friendship, or any bonds of human love are a mirror that reflects the life of God in you. Sit with your holy longing knowing it is the presence of the Lord. Exercise love whenever you can. God is near.
Father John Esper
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