Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Jesus is clearly frustrated today. The people have endured much. He longs to give them what they desire. They have been waiting for a prophet and for a messiah. And yet, when their hope is being fulfilled, they fail to see it. John came fasting, calling for change and repentance, and they said he couldn’t possibly be a prophet. Jesus came eating and drinking with any and all and so they said he couldn’t possibly be the Messiah. They have waited, and in waiting have lost hope. It’s easier to dismiss and to discount than to risk once again having hope and being disappointed.
We, the people of God, have endured much. Perhaps we feel hope fading sometimes. Just this week, I listened to laments about the increasing need of our neighbors who struggle to pay utility bills. I listened to parents whose children have been excluded from Catholic education. I listened to a mom whose young adult daughters no longer go to church because a catechist in her parish said women shouldn’t lead. I listened to the pain of exclusion from those within the LGBTQ community. I listened to people who fear for friends whose immigration status is complex. Most of this listening took place during synodal listening sessions or in education about synodality.
The people of this generation have endured much. Do we dare to hope? And if we dare, how do we dare? I am convinced that hope begins with love and love begins simply. It begins with listening - listening to what is happening in ourselves, listening to others, and listening for the Holy Spirit through it all. Listening in love has deep healing power. Paul writes that love bears all things. Do we dare to share the truth of our lives and wounds with one another? Do we dare to bear one another’s pains? Do we dare to resist judging or dismissing?
Might we dare to open ourselves to one another in mutual vulnerability? It’s another way of asking, might we dare to open ourselves to love? Do we dare to open ourselves to the working of the Holy Spirit moving within and among and inviting us, the church, forward?
Love hopes all things. In all this listening this week, in the very same conversations, I heard about loving inclusion of children with special needs; of parishioners meeting concrete needs of our neighbors; of a pastor saying just what was needed in a moment of blessing; of teachers who find hope in their high school students working to solve challenges and make their community better. I heard passion for sharing the good news of the gospel from the same people who expressed lament and hurt. I heard a longing to help people encounter Christ’s love. I witnessed hope this week.
Love endures and hopes all things. We believe in God who becomes flesh, dies, and on the third day rises! We are a resurrection people - a hope-filled people!
I pray that you name and lament all that is broken today. I pray that you tend it with attentive listening love. I pray that hope lives in you. I also pray that you participate in a conversation in the Spirit listening session of our archdiocesan synod and invite a friend. It is an act of hope in our world to listen to a diversity of voices in love and trust that the Holy Spirit is at work.
-Kelly Adamson