TODAY
131
The Lord Jesus came to our earth. He planted seeds of truth which in time transformed large segments of our society, which have Christianized, humanized our society. He gave us an ever expanding vision of hope. But most of all He gave us His love. He came to share with us. He did not take away the prison of our flesh-the box of our limitations and disappointments. Rather, He entered into our flesh. He did not take away the pain of life. Rather, He shared it with us. He did not take away death. Rather, He died for us and gave us resurrection. He gave us His Spirit, His Infinite Love to bind us to the Father and to Himself. As priests, I think that we have to be builders of a new world, but first we must be lovers. We must enter into the mystel-y of God's infinite love and care and concern. \Ve must respond with thanks and praise to God's love. As heralds of God's love we must respond to the heartache and back-break of men. We must not merely rearrange the world for our people, as if from above them. We must share the world, the pain of life with them. We must be at one with them. That is why when we are at the altar at the Eucharistic Liturgy we are most of all what we should always be as priests, sharers in the pain of Christ, sharers in the pain of our people, presiding for Christ over life and death and resurrection. As priests we must walk with our brothers and sisters towards Tamalpais, towards the world made as beautiful as we dream it might be, towards the headland of truth and justice and peace. But we must walk in the mystery of love. We must be truly present to our brothers and sisters as a sign that God is present to them. We must speak the name of Jesus to them. We must break His bread for them. We must sha1¡e His love with them. We must go with our brothers and sisters beyond Tamalpais to where God, Who is always with us, waits for us.