The Harlot, The Stranger, The Sinner - Reflection 31st Sunday OTB

readings

The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, all our understanding, and all our strength; and, the second is to love our neighbors as our self. 

This is a hard thing to do.

It is hard because to love our neighbor is to truly love God. That is where we run into trouble.

To love God is to love our neighbor with understanding and strength. This is where we fail.

People don't seem to be able to love by the example Jesus set. We fail to love our neighbor and in that we fail to love God.

We fail to love our neighbor because we see them as the harlot or the stranger or the sinner. It is hard for us to love  in the way Jesus expects from us.

The harlot has ideas different than us. It may be a different sexual view. It may be a different political view. It may be a different faith. It may be a different belief. 

I watched a local minister on television state preach that every Christian that did not worship as his church worshiped was wrong and would never know God. Other Christian’s faith was corrupt and like an unfaithful harlot.

Everyone can be a harlot.

Every stranger comes from someplace different. Today we define strangers in political rhetoric. And, strangers scare us by their different faiths, skin colors, or religions. Instead of love for the stranger there is violence.

A man shoots up a synagogue. Another shoots up a Sikh temple. Some say they fight for freedom by interfering with the freedom of others. Protesters shout profanities and spit on Christian monks in a march for life.

The truth is everyone is a stranger.
 

Sinners are hard to love. Maybe, it is because we see our self in the sinner. Instead, we consider our self as perfect, closer to God than a sinner. 

We’d rather judge others and ignore our own sins. 

Need proof, turn on the television. Many point out the sins of the others and ignore their own sins.

It is hard to love a sinner; it is hard to love our self.

When He created us, God breathe life into us. Each of us has that breath of God in us. No matter if we are Christians or non-Christian, believers or non-believer, harlot or stranger or sinner; we all have that part of God in us. When we fail to love our neighbor, we fail to love God. 

To love the way God wants us to love is a hard thing to do. I know from experience.

God asks us to bring all our heart, and all our understanding, and our strength to loving our neighbor and loving our self. Then we can love God.

Despite how hard it is for us, God still loves us in His perfect love.

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live and love one another. Amen.