October 29, 2023: Is ‘The Golden Rule’ Enough?

“Love your neighbor as yourself”. We all know it as “The Golden Rule”… But is the Golden Rule enough? This is the question Father Loomis asks in this homily. He argues, “When the principle barometer for love is myself, then love never entirely takes me out of myself and into the other. And so something about it falls short.” Father Loomis shares that this can occur in the relationship of married couples, and it can occur in our relationship with God. Sunday mass is substituted with evening prayer or meditation, loving God as the person wants to love God… not as God wants to be loved. Jesus says, “ love one another as I have loved you.” And how has he loved us? With his whole self, in obedience to the Father, in the order of the one receiving it. The crucifixion is the ultimate example of this love… giving his whole body soul and future for us, in obedience to the Father, and in a way that we can fully see, hear, smell, and taste. God says, “If you love me, then you will obey my commandments. Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me.” The Bible, the works of the Church fathers, the lives and examples of the saints, the counsel of the Holy Spirit, and years of tradition and church history give us all of the information we need to love God as HE wants to be loved. “We have everything we need to love God on a platinum level.” Father ends by saying, “Yes, to loves as you want to be loved is good… but to love God and to love your neighbor as Jesus has taught us to do so… that would just change the world.” Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time First Reading: Exodus 22:20-26 Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 Second Reading: First Thessalonians 1:5-10 Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40