St. Dominic Catholic Church

2002 Merton Ave | Los Angeles, CA 90041 | (323) 254-2519

Homilies


Do you love me? 2021-10-31 Fr. Roberto

 

 

Homily for 31st Sunday – Year B
Fr.  Roberto Corral, OP
St. Dominic’s Church, Los Angeles, CA
October 31, 2021

One of my favorite musicals is “Fiddler on the Roof.” For those of you who have not seen it, it’s about a poor Jewish milkman, named Tevye, and his family in Russia in the early 1900’s. One of the songs in the musical is entitled “Do You Love Me?” It is a conversation between Tevye and his wife of 25 years named Golde, a sharp-tongued but loyal wife and a good woman. Here is part of the song:

 (Tevye)
Golde...Do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I what?

(Tevye)
Do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
and this trouble in the town,
you're upset, you're worn out,
go inside, go lie down!
Maybe it's indigestion.

(Tevye)
Golde I'm asking you a question...
Do you love me?

(Golde)
You're a fool

(Tevye)
"I know...but do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I love you? 
For twenty-five years I've washed your clothes, Cooked your meals, cleaned your house, Given you children, milked your cow – After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?

(Tevye)
…But now I'm asking, Golde,
Do you love me?

(Golde)
I'm your wife

(Tevye)
"I know..."
But do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I've lived with him,
fought with him, starved with him.
Twenty-five years my bed is his…
If that's not love, what is?

(Tevye)
Then you love me?

(Golde)
I suppose I do.

(Tevye)
And I suppose I love you too.
 
“Do you love me?” – it is one of the most important questions one person can ask another; 
and, it is also an important question in our relationship with God. Today’s Gospel challenges us to see the question, “Do you love me?” from God’s point of view. In the Gospel, Jesus clearly and forcefully tells us today that the most important commandment for us Christians is to love God with all that we are: with our heart, soul, mind and strength. Now, on the one hand, this is a commandment; on the other hand, I simply cannot picture God saying to us in a demanding or threatening way: “Love me or else! I command you to love me! Rather, I imagine God asking each one of the same question that Tevye asked Golde in Fiddler on the Roof: “Do you love me?” Not a command, but a question. And then, God waits for our answer. 

Well, that is the question I want all of us to ask ourselves today: “Do I love God?” This sounds very basic and simple, but it is actually the crucial question our faith in God depends on. The question is not just do we know about God or do we believe in God; but, do we actually love God? So, I would ask those of you who are willing to do so, to ask yourself this question at some quiet moment during this Mass or later on: “In my heart of hearts, can I honestly say that I truly love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?” 

Now, of course, none of us here loves God perfectly; so, let me put it to you in a different way. 
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being perfect love for God, and 1 being no love for God, where would you be on that scale? I would imagine that most of us would place ourselves somewhere in the middle, right? Maybe a 5, 6 or 7. Now, let me just say that if you put yourself on the lower end of the scale – say a 1, 2 or 3 – it does not mean you are a bad person or that God is going to punish you. But it does mean that your faith can only go so far, because our Catholic faith is not simply about following rules and regulations or believing a list of things. Ultimately, as Jesus says in our Gospel today, our Catholic faith is about loving God; it’s about having a deep and personal relationship with our creator. Therefore, if you do not have that relationship, then you really cannot experience the fullness of life and happiness that God wants you to have. 

So, how can we determine more accurately where we are on that scale of 1 to 10? Well, let me give you a couple of ideas. One good way to measure our love for God is to ask ourselves, now and then, why we do what we do as Catholics. For example, why do you come to Mass? 
If you always or frequently come to Mass simply out of a sense of duty or obligation, or out of a fear being punished if you don’t come, or if you come primarily out of a sense of habit or tradition, that is not bad or sinful, but it is also not love. And I think that is why Tevye in the song does not settle for Golde’s first answer of simply listing all the things she has done for him in their 25 years of marriage. So, he continues to push her: “Yes, I know you do all those things, but do you love me?” And I think God says the same thing to us: “Yes, I know you do all those things – you go to Mass, you pray, you give money to homeless people, you send your kids to Catholic school or to the Children’s Faith Formation program, etc. But, do  you love me?

I think we all know that if we really love someone – whether it is another human being or God – at some point, we do things for them, not out of duty or obligation, but with a sense of delight and joy. We willingly give those we truly love our time, energy, commitment, money and make sacrifices for them, not just because it will make them happy, but also because it makes us happy to do those things for them. So, if you come to Mass primarily to give God thanks and praise and to make him happy, that is a sign of true love. 

Now, I realize that there are times when all of us don’t feel like coming to Mass, or praying or going to confession or reading the Bible, and we just do it as an obligation, to get it over with. 
That is a normal human reaction at times, not just in our religious observances, but in all aspects of human life. For example, we sometimes don’t feel like going to work or school, or we don’t feel like cooking or cleaning or doing our homework, etc., and we just do it to get it out of the way. I understand that. But again, if your usual attitude toward coming to Mass or doing any religious activity is one of doing it grudgingly, just to get it over with, doing the least that is required to fulfill your obligation, then I would say that you are probably pretty low on that scale of 1 to 10 in terms of your love for God.

Another way to measure our love for God is by fulfilling what Jesus called the second commandment in today’s Gospel: loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is probably the most important and most challenging way we can prove our love for God, and I believe it is why Jesus linked these two commandments together: loving God and loving others. Jesus is telling us that we simply cannot get away with saying we love God while at the same time hating someone. 
One of the most challenging quotes I have ever heard in my life is attributed to Dorothy Day, the saintly Catholic woman from the last century. She said: “You love God as much as the person you love the least.” Think about that. “You love God as much as the person you love the least.” Whoa! I don’t know about you all, but I find that very, very challenging. 

I am sure that most of us here have at least one person we really cannot stand. Well, imagine God standing right in front of you, and right next to God is that person you really dislike or even hate. And imagine God looking you straight in the eyes and saying to you: “If you love me, you have to love this person too.” My brothers and sisters, God wants more than anything that we love him with our hearts, our souls, our minds and our strength; he wants us to love him a sense of delight, joy and gratitude. And he really wants us to show our love for him by loving others, especially those who are hard to love.

And God asks you and me again and again in our lives, “Do you love me?” He asks us this question when things are going well for us, and when we are struggling; when we are at church, at home, at work, at school; when we are thinking about people we love and when we are thinking about people we cannot stand. God is asking you and me right here and right now: 
“Do you love me?” What is your answer?