Loved, we must love!
Our readings and Our Gospel for this day, are, more than ever, our guide to what it means to live as a person of faith, of someone who believes. First, every person on this planet carries some cross or another. Second, despite what this world may bring, our God loves us extravagantly! Finally, having faith in the truth that God loves us without measure, while we, and maybe even more so, because of the crosses we carry, we are called to love as we have been loved, to share the Good news of a God whose love for us never ever dies.
Reflecting on these words from Saint Paul in the Letter to the Galatians (6:14-18) for the day, we hear that “the world has been crucified to me and I to the world”, and here we find connection with Saint Paul for we all got stuff. That, as Brothers and Sisters to one another, it doesn’t matter who we are, ‘circumcised’ or ‘uncircumcised’ we all carry our crosses. Yet, Saint Paul concludes, that he, and we who believe, know that every day we have the chance to be created anew, that we are a new creation.
Yet, there is something greater than the cross in our lives, there is something greater than what the world offers, and this is God’s divine love for creation. We are Jerusalem. In our first reading from Isaiah (66:10-14c) how can the heart not but leap as we hear words that spur rejoicing in that God’s love wishes us comfort, and nurtures us, showering grace and prosperity, always with the hope of our flourishing. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her”.
It is so easy to see the God of love during summer and all its festivities. Why, just two days ago, here in the United States we celebrated our Independence Day, The Fourth of July. Summertime. The very word conjures up images of God’s abundance, of peaches, cherries and strawberries, family picnics, barbecues with corn on the cob, and all the watermelon one would wish to eat. Summer is also a time of rest, of going on vacation, reading a good novel, napping perhaps on a hammock, or finding peace in long walks, biking, doing fun things outdoors, or for us in Omaha, NE a time where it is not, fudge it all, 20 below zero. God’s love is actually all around us, all the time, and is a love that will never ever die. We saw proof of that in Jesus’ very resurrection.
Finally, loved by God with a love divine, we are called and sent out on mission, just as the seventy two were sent out in our Gospel from Luke (10: 1-12, 17-20) to love and to share the good news of this love of God that throughout all of salvation history, and fully revealed in Jesus, has never ever died for us or for the world. The love we profess should be therefore forever in our mouths and in our hearts. We are called to remember this day and always that ‘to love’ is a verb, it is action, an action that brings in its compassion and mercy, the power to heal and transform and for hearts to find hope once again and the grace and the space to rejoice!
Rev. Kent Beausoleil, SJ
Rev. Beausoleil, SJ, PhD, has lived in the Creighton Jesuit Community since 2020. Currently he ministers as the Market Vice President for Mission Integration (NE/IA) for CommonSpirit/CHI Health while continuing his ministry as a mission leader at five local area hospitals: Immanuel Medical Center, and Lasting Hope in Omaha, and Mercy Corning, Mercy Council Bluffs, and Missouri Valley in Iowa. Joining the Jesuits in 1997 and ordained in 2007 his Jesuit formation focused on three types of ministries: healthcare, spiritual direction and pastoral counseling, and higher education focusing on young adult spiritual development.
Rev. Kent A. Beausoleil, SJ has a PhD in Student Affairs from Miami University in Oxford, OH. He also possesses master’s degrees in public administration, philosophy, divinity and education. He loves to walk and be out in nature, cross-stitch and bake.
The ability to reflect on other contributors’ reflections as well as being able to provide a personal monthly spiritual reflection has become an important and integral part of my daily prayer.
