June 28, 2020
A number of years ago I heard the funny story of a guy parachuting out of an airplane. He reached for his parachute and pulled the rip cord to open it but nothing happened! He began to panic! Then he saw another man, coming up through the air from below, his eyebrows were burned off and his clothes were all blackened. He hollered to the man, "do you know anything about making parachutes open?" the man going up replied, "No, do you know anything about lighting gas grills?"
That is funny but it points out an interesting fact: some things matter more to us than others. In this case, how to open a parachute mattered more than anything else! It reminds us that there are different degrees of importance for things in our lives. Similarly, there are different degrees of how much we love someone. We seem to love members of our family most, then friends, and then acquaintances. In this weekend's Gospel, Jesus tells us that "hoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." I remember reading that years ago and becoming concerned. Am to love God more than my own children? Or wife? Or parents? Shouldn't family come before anything else?
The answer, of course, is that Jesus is not asking us to love our family any less. He is simply calling to our attention the great amount of love we have for them. And then he asks us to love God even more than that! That is the amount that we are to love God, and even more! And the fact is, in loving God, if we are genuinely loving God by living as Jesus taught, we become even better able to love our family members.
This week I heard of a young woman in her twenties, Cassie Yahnian. This past March she was undergoing daily dialysis and needed a kidney transplant. She had been healthy and athletic but was now prevented from most of her usual activities as she waited for a kidney donor. When Ken Burke, from here in Buffalo, heard of her need, he drove to Boston Massachusetts to become that donor. He had never met Cassie but felt that she was in a very difficult position and wanted to help. He felt called to donate his kidney to her, so he did! Back in March when you and I felt most isolated because of the Coronavirus restrictions, Cassie and Ken were recovering from lifesaving surgery. Within weeks, Cassie was able to go hiking once again!
I bring that up because it is a perfect example of what happens when we place our love for God above all else. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta told the great story of a poor family to whom she brought food. The mother of the household took half of the food and went out the door. When she came back, Mother Teresa asked her where she had gone. The woman replied, "To my neighbors, they are hungry also!" Mother Theresa said, "I was not surprised that she gave since poor people are really very generous. I was surprised that she knew they were hungry. As a rule, when we are suffering, we are so focused on ourselves, we have no time for others."
During the time of the Coronavirus, Ken was able to move the focus from himself and place it on the need of someone else. That is what it looks like to love God even more than anything or anyone. We don’t need to love those close to us any less, just to love God even more!
I am proud to say that this is exactly what I saw last Saturday as so many cars pulled up at St. Andrew to donate food for the food drive! All of you focused not on your own difficulties, but instead on the needs of others. That is what loving God first is all about! Amen.
Just a note, we are still accepting donations of groceries. You may drop them off at the rectory anytime (If I am not home, just leave them by the garage doors.) or bring them to Mass.
And just one more example of loving God first, last week when I ordered a truckload of mulch to be delivered to the church by Tommy's Topsoil I was very happy that he was able do it the next day. I was even more happy when I asked Tom, who delivered the rich dark mulch himself, for the bill he said, "Oh, there is no charge. This is my day to do something nice!" Thanks Tom, for loving God above all else!
God's Peace,
Deacon Dave
