As a diaconate student I had to prepare homilies for my homiletics teacher, the Very Rev. Walter Madej. He had me present the readings, Gospel, the invocation to the Holy Spirit and my homilies from the Ambo.

What I liked was that he paid attention to every detail, from my demeanor and speaking style to the the rubrics and content.

In honor of the Pope’s recent encyclical on love and the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday I am presenting a reworked version of my student homily Unrequited Love:

My brothers and sisters,

The risk of love is that it may be rejected. The rejection of true love is a great sin.

I am not speaking of love in the sense of romantic or erotic love which may be transitory, but love in the sense of Godly love.

God’s love is the love that is within us. We are created with the love of God within us. It cannot be any less for we are created in God’s image.

While we find an imperfect imitation of God’s great and perfect love in our earthly existence, in the future we will see and experience the perfection of God’s love.

St. Paul tells us:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”

What St. Paul tells us gives us great hope. However, it is preconditioned on our loving Him who loves us. It is a two way street.

There is nothing better in the heavens or the earth than loving God and having an absolute, unquenchable desire for Him.

Why then do so many reject God? Why do so many deny Him?

Those who engage in the rejection of God are engaging in the rejection and denial of the deepest and truest love. They completely miss the perfection of love.

Beyond that, their rejection pains all of humanity. This is the pain of sin and the pain of sin always comes from our rejection of God’s love.

We reject God’s love by harming ourselves and our neighbors. We sin when we reject the image of God in each human person. This terrible sin, this rejection, is compounded when we feel someone, anyone, is unworthy of love.

The ultimate outcome of this sin is that we reject God Himself. Every sin is a diminishment of us and of humanity. This continued action —“ breaking down God’s gift of love within us —“ makes us less. Eventually it leads to the outward and inward rejection of Christ Himself. We have rejected Christ in us and Christ in others, why not reject Him altogether?

This rejection is a type of suicide. This rejection is an attempt to kill an essential part of ourselves and of all humanity. That is why it is most sinful.

A professor once said that the opposite of love is not hate; rather it is ignoring the other person. It is acting as if the other person does not exist.

The opposite of love then is denying and rejecting its existence. Along with rejecting love’s existence we diminish to nothingness those offering love, most especially God Himself.

My brothers and sisters,

God’s act of love made manifest in His creating us was rejected when man initially turned his back on God. In our rush to be gods unto ourselves we rejected the existence of the One who gives all love —“ absolute, perfect, generous, unceasing love.

But God did not quit. God revealed and gave of Himself more and more throughout time. He refused to close the door.

Reflect on those books of the Old Testament and upon the moments where God offers and humanity accepts.

Those are beautiful moments! Unfortunately they are often followed by complete rejection. God, the giver of all love is continually rejected by His own people.

Studies have shown that the name of Jesus, the Messiah, appears over one hundred times in the Old Testament. The texts of the Old Testament reveal His actual presence at creation and at moments with Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Jacob. The continuous action of Christ is found throughout the Old Testament.

Finally, in the course of time God presented Himself and placed Himself into our hands. His Son Jesus becomes incarnate for our salvation.

Jesus, co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit is finally sent by the Father as God’s consummate gift of love. This ultimate act of love in the person of Jesus is rejected.

Think of Jesus looking down upon Jerusalem. In Luke we see Jesus, not just knowing what is to come, but all that had happened before, Jesus who knew the history of rejection, experiencing great sadness:

As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

Earlier in Luke Jesus laments

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling!”

He is rejected by our sinfulness. By our rejection of the lover’s very existence love itself was killed —“ finally killed on a cross.

Yet God provided for the resurrection. God’s love could not be killed. Jesus’ death fulfilled God’s love by opening the path to God. Jesus showed us how to be the best of lovers. Jesus opened the pathway and gave us His gift of grace. Jesus then gave us the sacraments and the Church itself as visible realities attesting to His love.

My friends,

It is up to us. We must end this cycle of rejection. We must take charge of our calling and put God’s love above all else.

By the consummate lover’s undying gift our earthly life is not the end. Death is not final. When we die it is not the turning off of a light, passing into non-existence.

Because of the love of God and the promise of the resurrection, a way is open to eternal life and happiness. We have a way to peace, joy, and unity in heaven. Heaven is the perfection of God’s love. Jesus is the way.

Dearest,

To reach heaven we are called to answer yes to God’s love. We are not to leave His love unrequited. We are called to be changed, to be re-created, re-born, and re-generated.

There are so many examples for us. They begin with our call to imitate Mary’s yes. We are called to imitate the Apostles conversion at Pentecost. We are called to follow the examples of the Saints and —those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith—. We are called to join ourselves to Christ.

The world of today is and indeed the people of the centuries before us were experts at rejection, at ignoring love. Even so, God never closes the door.

So to action! We need to show God’s love. We need to acknowledge its reality in our own lives and in the lives of our friends. Yes, and even in the lives of our enemies. The lover exists and His presence is before us always. Even to the end of time.

Bow down, worship, for we are unworthy but oh so blessed to enter this relationship with God. We are blessed by His free gift of Love. We need to show that love and we need to live it. We cannot dare to leave God’s love unrequited.