Love Like A Diamond: Sixth Sunday of Easter
The Sixth Sunday of Easter – Second Draft
Your assessments cited confusion halfway through the homily. The general appraisal was: “Yes, love’s hard to talk about, but who’s doing the talking?” So, I tried to sharpen the distinction.
My goal in the revision was to present the Mass as God’s words of love spoken into our world today.
Your comments are appreciated. Post them to the discussion board or e-mail me directly at jms48@fuse.net. Thanks.
I know a young man who owns a horse.
A couple of years ago he started dating a girl
who happened to like horses...a lot.
At the time, Michael’s friends kidded him:
"It's good you got a horse," they'd say.
Without that horse, Gwen might never have given you
a second look!" :)
Well, Michael and Gwenn dated for a year and a half.
When it came time to propose marriage, Michael devised a plan.
He called Gwen and asked her to meet him in the barn.
She arrived and there, tied to a strand of hair in the horse’s mane,
she found a diamond ring.
Now, of course, once this happened,
all the women in town
thought that it was just the most romantic thing
they had ever heard of.
Us guys, on the other hand, thought it was a bit risky,
if not downright foolish.
After all, if that knot had come loose,
there’d been a lot manure to sift through!
But, that’s the way of love, isn't it?
Risks don’t matter.
It’s all or nothing.
________
Well, today’s readings focus on love:
God’s love for us.
Our love for God.
And the commandment from Christ
that we love one another
as God has loved us.
That’s a lot of talk about love.
Nevertheless, for a lot of people,
love remains a topic that is hard to talk about.
That’s one reason, I suppose,
that we tend to do things like…
call home when we’re late;
send cards on birthdays and buy flowers on anniversaries;
visit a grandparent in a nursing home and buy gifts for our friends.
Sometimes it’s easy to show love than talk about love.
Some people even go so far as to tie diamond rings
to strands of hair in a horse’s mane.
________
Love’s the reason behind a lot of the things we do.
Whether you know it or not,
it’s also the reason we come here to Mass.
It’s here at Mass
that we find evidence of the love we’re looking for.
This Mass we celebrate and the religion that we practice,
directs our eyes to where love is found.
It’s the foundation of the commitments we make.
It’s the heart of the sacrifices we offer.
In short, it’s fastened, like a diamond ring,
to the flowing strands
of the lives that we live.
And it you but open your eyes
you’ll see that amazing love right here, at the Eucharist.
Look close and you’ll see God’s love
shining like a diamond set within the sacred rituals
we perform inside this church.
________
I say this because the Sacrifice of this Mass is about love.
It’s all about love.
A love that counts no cost.
The kind of love that led our Savior
to lay down his life for the likes of us.
Now, as I said, human love is hard to talk about.
Unfortunately, the same goes for God’s love.
It is hard , for instance, to communicate the powerful love of an awesome God…
in a city like ours
where people talk more about crime than compassion.
It’s hard to talk about the purity of God’s love
in a church caught up in scandal rather than truth.
It’s hard to talk about the tender love of a forgiving God
in a world wounded by war.
It’s hard to talk about the sacrificial love of a crucified Christ
in a society bloated on material goods and comfort.
So, yes, it is difficult to talk about love be it human or divine.
Yet, we can’t live without either one.
We hunger for it, we yearn for it.
We can’t live without it.
No matter how much we might stammer when we try to talk about it.
No matter how much we fumble our words when we try to express it.
No matter how deep the darkness into which the words of love sometimes
fall like stones into a well…
we are compelled to find some way to convey the vision of love
placed in the heart of every man, woman and child.
And that vision of love is nothing less than the vision of God.
As St. John puts it:
Love is of God.
The one who does not know love
does not know God.
This means that you and I can’t live without God
anymore than we could live without love.
And that goes for the whole world.
In fact, spiritually speaking, the world could not continue in existence
if not for the love that you and I encounter here at the Mass.
Because this Mass is the word of love spoken by God
as placed on the lips of Christ when, today, we hear him say:
“You are my friends.”
“YOU are my friends.”
These are words of love that defy a world at war.
“You are my friends.”
These are words of truth, the only truth capable
of healing the wounds of sin.
“You are my friends.”
This is the gift of trust that reaches out
and takes the hand of a battered woman.
It is the hope that shores up the man who has lost his dream.
It is, also the smile on the face of a child dancing in the sun.
This is the love we seek.
The love we need.
And there is none greater!
As Jesus himself makes clear:
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life
for one’s friend.”
And that is precisely what occurs inside this church today.
This is the diamond-hard love
hidden within the ritual of this Mass.
This is the ring of gold
woven into the flowing strands of lives such as ours.
This is love.
God’s love.
The love we cannot live without.
___________________________________________________________
(First Draft)
I know a young man who owns a horse.
At one point, he started dating a girl who liked to ride horses.
They ended up going together
and we used to kid Michael that it was good thing that he owned a horse.
Because, if not for that horse
Gwen might never have given a thought to dating him.
When it came time to propose marriage,
Michael devised a plan.
He called Gwen and asked her to meet him in the barn.
There, tied to a strand of hair
inside the horse’s mane, she found a diamond ring.
All the women in town thought that was just the most romantic thing
they had ever heard of.
Us guys thought it was a bit risky, if not downright stupid.
After all, if that knot had come loose,
there’d been a lot manure to be shifted through.
Well, today’s readings focus on love:
God’s love for us.
Our love for God.
The commandment from God that we love one another
as God has loved us.
That’s a lot of talk about love.
But love is hard to talk about.
And that’s one reason, I suppose,
that we tend to do things like
call home when we’re late
send cards on birthdays,
buy flowers on anniversaries,
visit a grandparent in a nursing home,
buy gifts for our friends.
Sometimes, people go so far as to tie diamond rings
to strands of hair in a horse’s mane.
It’s also the reason we come here to Mass.
Like a diamond ring hidden in the thick mane of a horse,
we find the evidence we’re looking for…
evidence of God’s love and grace
in the commitments we make,
the sacrifices we offer…
woven like a golden ring into the strands
of the lives that we live.
Open your eyes
and you’ll see that here, at the Eucharist,
God’s love shines like a diamond.
The Sacrifice of this Mass is about love.
It’s all about love.
Yet, love,
especially love on this level,
is hard to talk about.
(You know it is.)
It is hard , for instance, to talk about the powerful love of an awesome God…
in a city where people talk more about crime than compassion.
It’s hard to talk about the purity of love
in a church caught up in scandal rather than truth.
It’s hard to talk about the tender love of a forgiving God
in a world wounded by war.
It’s hard to talk about the sacrificial love of a crucified Christ
in a society bloated on material goods and comfort.
So, yes, it is difficult to talk about love.
Yet, we can’t live without it.
We hunger for it, we yearn for it.
We can’t live without it.
No matter how much we might stammer when we try to talk about it.
No matter how much we fumble words when we try to express it.
No matter how difficult the task might be..
No matter how deep the darkness into which the words of love sometimes
fall like stones into a well…
we have to find some way to communicate the vision of love
that God has placed in the heart of every man, woman and child.
We have to talk about it.
Somehow, we have to express it.
It’s what makes us human.
And being a human is a wonderful thing.
Being human means being made
in the image and likeness of God.
As St. John puts it:
Love is of God.
The one who does not know love
does not know God.
Which means that, spiritually speaking,
you and I…we can’t live without love,
we can’t live without God and,
spiritually speaking, the world cannot go on without the love
that you and I encounter here at the Mass.
Because this Mass is the word of love
spoken by God on the lips of Christ:
“You are my friends.”
This is the gift of life that defies a world at war.
“You are my friends.”
This is the truth that heals the wound of sin.
“You are my friends.”
This is the gift of trust that takes the hand of a battered woman,
the hope that shores up the man who has sinned,
the smile on the face of a child dancing in the sun.
This is the love we seek.
The love we need.
And there is none greater.
For, as Jesus says,
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life
for one friend.”
“You are my friends.”
This is the love we can’t live without.
This is the diamond woven into the strands of lives such as ours.
Your assessments cited confusion halfway through the homily. The general appraisal was: “Yes, love’s hard to talk about, but who’s doing the talking?” So, I tried to sharpen the distinction.
My goal in the revision was to present the Mass as God’s words of love spoken into our world today.
Your comments are appreciated. Post them to the discussion board or e-mail me directly at jms48@fuse.net. Thanks.
I know a young man who owns a horse.
A couple of years ago he started dating a girl
who happened to like horses...a lot.
At the time, Michael’s friends kidded him:
"It's good you got a horse," they'd say.
Without that horse, Gwen might never have given you
a second look!" :)
Well, Michael and Gwenn dated for a year and a half.
When it came time to propose marriage, Michael devised a plan.
He called Gwen and asked her to meet him in the barn.
She arrived and there, tied to a strand of hair in the horse’s mane,
she found a diamond ring.
Now, of course, once this happened,
all the women in town
thought that it was just the most romantic thing
they had ever heard of.
Us guys, on the other hand, thought it was a bit risky,
if not downright foolish.
After all, if that knot had come loose,
there’d been a lot manure to sift through!
But, that’s the way of love, isn't it?
Risks don’t matter.
It’s all or nothing.
________
Well, today’s readings focus on love:
God’s love for us.
Our love for God.
And the commandment from Christ
that we love one another
as God has loved us.
That’s a lot of talk about love.
Nevertheless, for a lot of people,
love remains a topic that is hard to talk about.
That’s one reason, I suppose,
that we tend to do things like…
call home when we’re late;
send cards on birthdays and buy flowers on anniversaries;
visit a grandparent in a nursing home and buy gifts for our friends.
Sometimes it’s easy to show love than talk about love.
Some people even go so far as to tie diamond rings
to strands of hair in a horse’s mane.
________
Love’s the reason behind a lot of the things we do.
Whether you know it or not,
it’s also the reason we come here to Mass.
It’s here at Mass
that we find evidence of the love we’re looking for.
This Mass we celebrate and the religion that we practice,
directs our eyes to where love is found.
It’s the foundation of the commitments we make.
It’s the heart of the sacrifices we offer.
In short, it’s fastened, like a diamond ring,
to the flowing strands
of the lives that we live.
And it you but open your eyes
you’ll see that amazing love right here, at the Eucharist.
Look close and you’ll see God’s love
shining like a diamond set within the sacred rituals
we perform inside this church.
________
I say this because the Sacrifice of this Mass is about love.
It’s all about love.
A love that counts no cost.
The kind of love that led our Savior
to lay down his life for the likes of us.
Now, as I said, human love is hard to talk about.
Unfortunately, the same goes for God’s love.
It is hard , for instance, to communicate the powerful love of an awesome God…
in a city like ours
where people talk more about crime than compassion.
It’s hard to talk about the purity of God’s love
in a church caught up in scandal rather than truth.
It’s hard to talk about the tender love of a forgiving God
in a world wounded by war.
It’s hard to talk about the sacrificial love of a crucified Christ
in a society bloated on material goods and comfort.
So, yes, it is difficult to talk about love be it human or divine.
Yet, we can’t live without either one.
We hunger for it, we yearn for it.
We can’t live without it.
No matter how much we might stammer when we try to talk about it.
No matter how much we fumble our words when we try to express it.
No matter how deep the darkness into which the words of love sometimes
fall like stones into a well…
we are compelled to find some way to convey the vision of love
placed in the heart of every man, woman and child.
And that vision of love is nothing less than the vision of God.
As St. John puts it:
Love is of God.
The one who does not know love
does not know God.
This means that you and I can’t live without God
anymore than we could live without love.
And that goes for the whole world.
In fact, spiritually speaking, the world could not continue in existence
if not for the love that you and I encounter here at the Mass.
Because this Mass is the word of love spoken by God
as placed on the lips of Christ when, today, we hear him say:
“You are my friends.”
“YOU are my friends.”
These are words of love that defy a world at war.
“You are my friends.”
These are words of truth, the only truth capable
of healing the wounds of sin.
“You are my friends.”
This is the gift of trust that reaches out
and takes the hand of a battered woman.
It is the hope that shores up the man who has lost his dream.
It is, also the smile on the face of a child dancing in the sun.
This is the love we seek.
The love we need.
And there is none greater!
As Jesus himself makes clear:
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life
for one’s friend.”
And that is precisely what occurs inside this church today.
This is the diamond-hard love
hidden within the ritual of this Mass.
This is the ring of gold
woven into the flowing strands of lives such as ours.
This is love.
God’s love.
The love we cannot live without.
___________________________________________________________
(First Draft)
I know a young man who owns a horse.
At one point, he started dating a girl who liked to ride horses.
They ended up going together
and we used to kid Michael that it was good thing that he owned a horse.
Because, if not for that horse
Gwen might never have given a thought to dating him.
When it came time to propose marriage,
Michael devised a plan.
He called Gwen and asked her to meet him in the barn.
There, tied to a strand of hair
inside the horse’s mane, she found a diamond ring.
All the women in town thought that was just the most romantic thing
they had ever heard of.
Us guys thought it was a bit risky, if not downright stupid.
After all, if that knot had come loose,
there’d been a lot manure to be shifted through.
Well, today’s readings focus on love:
God’s love for us.
Our love for God.
The commandment from God that we love one another
as God has loved us.
That’s a lot of talk about love.
But love is hard to talk about.
And that’s one reason, I suppose,
that we tend to do things like
call home when we’re late
send cards on birthdays,
buy flowers on anniversaries,
visit a grandparent in a nursing home,
buy gifts for our friends.
Sometimes, people go so far as to tie diamond rings
to strands of hair in a horse’s mane.
It’s also the reason we come here to Mass.
Like a diamond ring hidden in the thick mane of a horse,
we find the evidence we’re looking for…
evidence of God’s love and grace
in the commitments we make,
the sacrifices we offer…
woven like a golden ring into the strands
of the lives that we live.
Open your eyes
and you’ll see that here, at the Eucharist,
God’s love shines like a diamond.
The Sacrifice of this Mass is about love.
It’s all about love.
Yet, love,
especially love on this level,
is hard to talk about.
(You know it is.)
It is hard , for instance, to talk about the powerful love of an awesome God…
in a city where people talk more about crime than compassion.
It’s hard to talk about the purity of love
in a church caught up in scandal rather than truth.
It’s hard to talk about the tender love of a forgiving God
in a world wounded by war.
It’s hard to talk about the sacrificial love of a crucified Christ
in a society bloated on material goods and comfort.
So, yes, it is difficult to talk about love.
Yet, we can’t live without it.
We hunger for it, we yearn for it.
We can’t live without it.
No matter how much we might stammer when we try to talk about it.
No matter how much we fumble words when we try to express it.
No matter how difficult the task might be..
No matter how deep the darkness into which the words of love sometimes
fall like stones into a well…
we have to find some way to communicate the vision of love
that God has placed in the heart of every man, woman and child.
We have to talk about it.
Somehow, we have to express it.
It’s what makes us human.
And being a human is a wonderful thing.
Being human means being made
in the image and likeness of God.
As St. John puts it:
Love is of God.
The one who does not know love
does not know God.
Which means that, spiritually speaking,
you and I…we can’t live without love,
we can’t live without God and,
spiritually speaking, the world cannot go on without the love
that you and I encounter here at the Mass.
Because this Mass is the word of love
spoken by God on the lips of Christ:
“You are my friends.”
This is the gift of life that defies a world at war.
“You are my friends.”
This is the truth that heals the wound of sin.
“You are my friends.”
This is the gift of trust that takes the hand of a battered woman,
the hope that shores up the man who has sinned,
the smile on the face of a child dancing in the sun.
This is the love we seek.
The love we need.
And there is none greater.
For, as Jesus says,
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life
for one friend.”
“You are my friends.”
This is the love we can’t live without.
This is the diamond woven into the strands of lives such as ours.
posted by BlueCollarPreacher at 6:50 PM
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