By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Photographer: EMILY CHAFFINS | FC
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preaches his homily at Mass for the 65th anniversary of the arrival of the Daughters of St. Paul to the Archdiocese of Miami, Nov. 3, 2024, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Doral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily on November 3, 2024, during a Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral, celebrating the 65th anniversary of the arrival of the Daughters of St. Paul to the Archdiocese of Miami.
The Scripture readings today give us in a few short sentences a concise summary, a resume, if you will, of all that is written in the Bible. If we wanted to sum up what the Bible says in just one word that word would be simply: Love. Love God with all your heart, mind and soul; love your neighbor as yourself.
The “Hear, O Israel” of today’s first reading is the Shema Israel, the prayer that Observant Jews recite every day.
Shema Israel. The Bible is one big “love letter” for, as Jesus says, he (or she) who loves fulfills all that is written in the Law and the Prophets.
In fact, once St. Augustine, one of the greatest preachers of the Church, told his people: Love, and then do what you want. Of course, St. Augustine also wanted to make sure the people understood want he meant by the word “Love”. For Augustine knew that if people understood “love” correctly then they would want what is right, what is just, what is pleasing to God, what is for the good of one's neighbor.
Of course, that is the problem. Too many people have the word “love” on their lips, but they don't have it in their hearts. What would happen if we picked five people from this congregation and sent them out to take a poll? (Polls are popular these days.) Say we ask them to interview five other people and ask them what love is for them. I think we would get 25 different answers. Everybody would tell us what love is according to their own opinions or ideas.
Jesus teaches us that love is not just a sentiment, an emotion; rather it is a decision, an action. When you love someone, you want to embrace them. Jesus opens his arms on the cross to embrace all of humanity. From the cross, he teaches us that love is commitment, that love is sacrifice. As nails are driven into his hands, he cries out: Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. From the cross, Jesus teaches us that love is forgiveness. So, if we are to love and do as we wish, we must love as Jesus loved.
Today, of course, I’m here at Our Lady of Guadalupe to honor the Daughters of St. Paul, a congregation of religious sisters that have worked here in the archdiocese for 65 years. They carry out an apostolate of the “good press” using media as a tool for evangelization. That’s why they are sometimes called the “media nuns”. I hope that some, if not most of you, have visited their bookstore and media center on SW 107th Avenue in Sweetwater.
Their foundress, the Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo, said: “When our hearts are filled with the love of God, this love necessarily overflows onto the world.”
The Daughters of St. Paul, like other religious, takes vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These vows are not simply renunciations; they are what give you the freedom to give yourselves totally to God and to his Church. In a way, we could say that as consecrated women you represent the Church “concentrated” for you give the entire Christian community a unique witness to the implications of our own baptismal call to holiness.
Sisters, your consecrated life is a gift to the Church that makes manifest the striving of the whole Church as Bride towards union with her one Spouse, Jesus. In other words, your love has overflowed into our world here in the Archdiocese of Miami.
In the Alleluia verse, we heard these words from St. John, “Whoever loves me will keep my commandments.” In other words, to experience that we are loved by God enables us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Loving in this way is like learning to speak a new language well or playing a new sport.
Before you can speak a new language well, you must learn the grammar. Grammar might seem to be all about rules and regulations. And to love like Jesus means learning the rules and regulations about self-control, purity of heart and mind; it is about learning how to deny oneself, to respect others, to serve instead of being served. And as you learn the grammar, you must practice, practice, practice...
God’s plan is for us to love as Jesus did. To work out the details, to learn how God wishes you to shape that future, to overcome one’s own hesitancy or fears, requires the same discipline needed to excel in a language or a sport. It also requires that you spend some time talking and listening to Jesus as he walks with you along your way.
Brothers and sisters, we live in a world of fragile peace and broken promises. In this world of globalized indifference, a world divided between the right and the left, the poor and the rich, a world of migrant caravans, and a world of broken families and of discarded elderly and inconvenient children who are easily disposed of through abortions, we must bear witness to what a reconciled and a reconciling world can look like if we only heed Jesus' words to love God and neighbor as ourselves.
And, as we ask the Lord to strengthen us through our communion in His Body and Blood, we also thank him for the encouragement given us and witness shown us by those who consecrated themselves totally to God and to his Church by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Thank you, Sisters, and congratulations for your 65 years of loving God and neighbor here in the Archdiocese of Miami.
