AMC Spirituality: Two Questions Answered By Love

ANGELA MERICI CENTER Two Questions Answered By Love

BY GINNY SCHAEFFER

When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor,” he knew your neighbor would act, look, believe and love differently than you. It’s kinda the whole point. —From a yard sign Author unknown

Am I my brother’s, sister’s keeper? Who is my neighbor?

Nearly every day, on my way into work, I am forced to confront these questions at least once, if not twice. Some days, especially if the weather is extreme, they hit me hard. “How can I sit in my climate-controlled car, with my belly full of breakfast or planning what I’m going to have for supper and not do something? How can I ignore what’s right in front of me…the need, the cry for help?” Their signs pull at me, as they are meant to, declaring the holder’s life situation: “Homeless · Hungry · Sick · Homeless Vet · Children to feed · Let’s be honest. I’m going to buy beer.” They walk up and down the sidewalk or along the median looking for any kind of signal that someone is going to give them a dollar or two.

Am I my brother’s, sister’s keeper? Who is my neighbor?

The images on TV break my heart and send waves of sorrow crashing through me. The numbers are staggering and nearly impossible to comprehend. Going on four million people worldwide are dead from something we cannot see, much less put our hands around. Body bags loaded into refrigerated trucks. Hospitals around the globe have been overwhelmed. People in India are begging for oxygen. Long-haulers are suffering months, perhaps years, after their initial illness. Healthcare providers stare back at us, over their masks, with haunted eyes that have seen too much suffering and death.

Am I my brother’s, sister’s keeper? Who is my neighbor?

Other images enrage me and my soul cries out, “What is wrong with us?” People of color are killed on our city streets in broad daylight. Infants, toddlers, and children are torn from their parent’s arms as they try to escape poverty, gang violence and climate catastrophes. Mobs of angry, violent Americans, fueled by conspiracy theories, storm the United States Capitol in an attempt to stop the constitutional process of a peaceful transfer of power. Gun violence kills the young and old, the innocent and the perpetrator, the bystander and the target.

Am I my brother’s, sister’s keeper? Who is my neighbor?

As followers of Jesus, we know the answers to these two questions: Yes, and Everyone.

Jesus did not mince words about who we are to open our hearts to, reach out to, and make room for, in our lives. He did not just talk the talk, He walked the walk as well. He healed the servant of a Roman centurion—the sworn enemy and oppressor of his people—and praised the man for his faith. He welcomed women into his inner circle— a great taboo. He touched the leper— something that could get you thrown out of town and family. He engaged the Samaritan woman and the Syrophoenician mother—not only women but also “aliens” who most Jews of the day despised. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, had dinner with folks with less than stellar reputations who were frowned upon by polite society and the religious elite.

How did he do it? How did Jesus stay open and welcoming to so many people with such desperate needs? Yeah, there were times when he tried to get away from the demanding crowds. One day he got into a boat and had his fishermen disciples row him across to the other side of the lake only to be met by another

demanding and needy crowd. He did not whine about not being able to get away for a well-deserved rest. No, the scriptures tell us that when Jesus saw the crowd, “…his heart broke [with compassion]—like sheep without a shepherd, they were. He went right to work teaching them.” (Mark 6:34)

It was not guilt, grief, anger, or a sense of duty that kept Jesus energized, open and welcoming. It was compassion. It was a heart broken open by love.

The reality is, we can do a lot of good things motivated by a purpose that is often self-serving and will eventually burn itself out. I reach out to welcome the stranger, to feed the hungry, to comfort the lonely so I can ease my guilt, soothe my grief, calm my anger, and feel good about myself; but it only takes me so far before I become exhausted, dried up and spent.

Jesus shows us that it is love and compassion that empowers when all else fails. First, knowing in our heartof-hearts that we are each loved infinitely and without any conditions. Then, allowing ourselves to be conduits of this love, to allow it to flow through us and out to others, like the living waters Jesus promised the woman at the well, and us.

Of course, this does not happen overnight, this opening to love. It is a process we call transformation, redemption, and salvation. It is grounded in prayer and intimacy between God and ourselves. It is a letting go and a growing into our true self, that self that is created in the image and likeness of God. It is the recovery of our sight that allows us to see the other as sister, brother and neighbor and to open wide the doors of our hearts and cry out, “All are welcome! All are welcome!” Angela Merici Center for Spirituality Online Opportunities for Contemplative Prayer: A Guided Meditation

A new series, Opportunities for Contemplative Prayer, is offered on the fourth Monday of each month. It is our hope and prayer that you will receive what you need and desire from this series. TAIZÉ Prayer

Known for its beauty, peace and quiet power, Taizé Prayer is practiced throughout the world. Using chants, simple songs, inspirational readings, Scripture, silence and prayer, it offers an opportunity of ever-deepening rest in God’s presence. Sabbath Moments

Sabbath-keeping is an ancient tradition of resting from your labor so that you might remember the gifts of God and reconnect with the Ground of your being. The theme for this year is Love. Each month we will reflect upon a different aspect of love and how we might more fully live into it. We will continue to offer Taizé Prayer and Contemplative Prayer Experiences virtually on the AMC Facebook page and website. To be placed on our email blast list, please email your name and email address to: gschaeffer@ursulineslou.org Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/amcspirituality Visit our website at: www.amcspirituality.org We’re on Instagram! amcspirituality