Love Was His Meaning

Dear Friend,

You can trust Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, an author and scripture scholar who’s also a pastoral minister. Her insightful commentary, “Ponder” (Liturgical Press, Collegeville MN) – recommended - grew out of her work leading a bible study at a “gritty downtown parish” (her words) in Worchester, Massachusetts. As I say, you can trust her. She suggests that we read the scriptures contemplatively, allowing God’s word to shape our hearts, open our vistas, and lead us to action.  

In line with Mahri, I’ve been pondering the scriptures for this week, along with a quote from Gregory the Great which she included in her commentary last week, words which, to me anyway, make Gregory sound like a guy who’d be very much at home in Mahri’s parish neighborhood - that is to say, gritty. He writes: “I assure you that it is not by faith that you will come to know him, but by love; not by mere conviction, but by action.” 

Notably, it is missionary work – so central in the experience of our new Pope Leo XIV – that comes to the fore in this week’s first reading. Dramatizing this work as a kind of love-in-action, Paul and Barnabas are hard at it, opening the door of love to the Gentiles. This is a difficult push, as we read, requiring prayer, fasting and hardship - including what sometimes feels hardest, admitting that ultimately the work is only accomplished by the grace of God.  

And then we hear this from Revelation: God’s dwelling is with the human race. Could there be a grittier neighborhood to set up shop? What “mission” did God have in mind? Julian of Norwich had an answer. Pondering to the depth of her gritty soul the Jesus of this week’s Gospel, she wrote quite simply, and you can trust her: Love was his meaning. 

Gratefully,

Father Dan