Peaceful and Loving Advice

Peace to this household of God. This is one of the directives in Luke 10:1-20. Stay in a house that offers peace; it is good to be in this house of God. I had surgery back in May for the treatment of chronic endometriosis. This was the fifth surgery in five years for me. Prior to the surgery, I had endured ten months of chronic pain and had exhausted all other options for treatment before consenting to surgery one more time. On the day of the procedure, I was beyond my threshold of pain and was weak from dehydration in preparing for the surgery. I was ready for the doctor to do anything to relieve my suffering. Because of my aversion to hospitals, I was scared and dreading the cold, sterile environment I had often experienced in hospital care. The grace in all of this was that my mother and a friend were with me until I went into the operating room. Just before surgery, they laid hands on me and prayed over me, reminding me that God was present and I was not alone, not even in a hospital. I immediately felt their love and God's love more deeply. I knew that no matter what the outcome, I would be okay, for I was rooted and ground in God's love, revealed to me in the tender love of a mother and a friend. The good news is that the surgery was a "success" in that I am hopeful for a long-term recovery.

Two weeks after that experience, I had surgery again, this time for my sinuses. This was a minor procedure that has enabled me to breathe deeply through my nasal passages, something I have not done before. The nose now knows how to breathe. The good news is that I am healthy once more and able to breathe deeply of the sacred gift of life. Peace to this household of God.

Consider the feminine images of God found in Isaiah 66:10-14. "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you" (v. 13). God is like a nurturing, loving mother. Pope John Paul I, in a papal address in Saint Peter's Square in 1978, said: "God is our father; even more, God is our mother...if children are ill...or they are sick with badness and are on the wrong track...they have an additional claim to be loved by their mother...." God's power is in motherly love. A mother's love, which I have witnessed very recently and very concretely, can reveal the compassionate love of God. Jesus, well versed in the Old Testament, says something similar: "O Jerusalem, as a mother tenderly gathers her young, so have I longed to gather you to my heart." (See Luke 13:34-35)

Jesus gives motherly advice to his disciples in the Gospel of Luke--tender, compassionate advice in the service of mission. Now, both of my parents gave me similar nurturing advice. Every time I left the house, they would say to me: "Do you have gas in the car? Have you checked the oil? Do you have money? Watch the speed limit. Be careful."

The maternal advice that Jesus gives to his disciples goes something like this: Be on your way, but know that you are not alone. I send you out in pairs and in community. Let your mission be powered by God. The Master of the harvest is in charge. Keep it simple in traveling. Be grounded in God, and you will have all you need. Above all, let your mission be rooted in peace, accepting the hospitality of others and being caring towards others in return. Lastly, be accountable to one another and always remember that God is in charge. Jesus sends his disciples out into the world to preach the Reign of God. The message of the Gospel today is to challenge us to do the same, following the nurturing, loving advice of a caring, compassionate God.

Pedro Arrupe, SJ, the former Superior General of the Jesuits, says it this way:

Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is falling in love in a quite absolute,
final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your
imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed
in the morning,
what you will do with your evenings,
how you will spend your weekends,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

My love of God continues to decide everything in my life. Peace to this household of God. May the Eucharist nourish us in our journey of faith. And as Saint Paul said to the community of faith in Galatia, "May we never boast of anything but the cross of Jesus Christ." The grace of Jesus Christ be with your spirit, sisters, and brothers. Amen.