Our blessed Lord makes clear that what we owe everyone is the same: love.
Love is neither a feeling nor is it whimsical. Love is nothing into which one falls or out of which one falls.
Love is a bold daring choice. Sometimes heroic. Always demanding because it requires the other – familiar or stranger – to be elevated above my agenda. Love enables me to get over myself and not lost in myself.
An inspiring local example of daring love is seen in the remarkably simple Capuchin priest who served mostly in Detroit, Blessed Solanus Casey. So concerned about Solanus’ limitations, that leaders permitted him to be ordained only as a “simplex priest”, meaning that he was not allowed to preach or hear Confessions. He own religious community assigned him the role of “porter” – doorkeeper! However, shortly thereafter, people began streaming to the St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit just to meet Father Solanus who radiated love.
