Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Welcome to Sundays with Bishop Ken, a weekly podcast brought to you by the publishers of little books of the Diocese of Saginaw.
[00:00:22] Each Sunday of ordinary time, the gospel and Bishop Ken's homily are proclaimed by members of our faith community.
[00:00:32] During the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, our Sunday prayer time will be taken from the little book's reflections for that season.
[00:00:43] We are pleased to spend this quiet time with you today.
[00:01:02] Hi, thanks for joining us. It's May 5, the 6th Sunday of the Easter season. Today is Orthodox Easter.
[00:01:23] In Greece, there is a long tradition of dying eggs red as part of the Easter tradition. The red color is meant to symbolize Christ's blood.
[00:01:33] The egg itself is a symbol of the resurrection and new life.
[00:01:39] Its shell represents the sealed tomb of Jesus, but the cracking of the egg symbolizes Jesus resurrection and exit from the tomb.
[00:01:50] In Greece, the tradition of egg cracking starts on the night of the resurrection and continues the next day. At the greek Easter feast, two people each hold a red painted egg and exchange a traditional Easter greeting.
[00:02:06] Christos Anesti, Christ has risen, and alethos Onesti, he truly has risen.
[00:02:24] Our Sunday reflection is about the commandment of love.
[00:02:29] Let's listen.
[00:02:33] Here are two observations about the commandment of love in today's gospel.
[00:02:39] First, perhaps we should substitute another word for love, since it has taken on so many meanings.
[00:02:47] We think of love as a feeling that we have toward other people, but we cannot always control our feelings.
[00:02:55] Sometimes we have a natural dislike toward people and feel unable to keep the commandment of love.
[00:03:03] Perhaps we should substitute the word value.
[00:03:07] God so loved or valued the world that he gave his only son.
[00:03:14] The basic meaning of the word love, as it evolves from the latin word caritas, is to value something.
[00:03:23] Now that is something we can control.
[00:03:26] We can control the value we place on other people and on other things.
[00:03:33] And the commandment of love is precisely that, to value every single person.
[00:03:53] It's not easy, but that's what we are called to do. We are called to value each person, just as parents value their child.
[00:04:04] It has nothing to do with feelings.
[00:04:07] It has everything to do with behavior.
[00:04:10] If we truly value someone, we will be honest and try to help.
[00:04:17] When we value someone, we make time.
[00:04:21] We show patience.
[00:04:26] Secondly, this commandment of love is difficult because if we carry it out, it may be a mismatch.
[00:04:35] We may love others more than we are loved in return.
[00:04:41] Most of the love that is written about or sung about is mutual, reciprocal. But the commandment of love calls us to love, as Jesus did and Jesus love was a mismatch.
[00:04:56] Jesus loved the world much more than the world loved him.
[00:05:02] Usually in a mismatch, the weaker party suffers.
[00:05:07] But when love is a mismatch, it is the other way around.
[00:05:12] The person with the greater love suffers most.
[00:05:17] All you have to do is look at Jesus.
[00:05:21] He loved so much.
[00:05:23] It was such a mismatch that it cost him his life.
[00:05:44] Thank you for sharing some quiet time with the Lord today.
[00:05:52] Please consider supporting this podcast by clicking the donate link.
[00:06:01] For more information and other prayer resources, go to littlebooks.org.
[00:06:08] May your day be blessed.
