March 19th is the feast day of St. Joseph, Mary’s husband and the foster father of Jesus. Little is known of him: he courageously accepted Mary’s pregnancy and protected and cherished her and her child, fleeing with them to Egypt to keep them safe. It is the custom on his feast day to bless foods to be given to the poor (St Joseph’s table), and some Italian parishes hold potlucks on this day.
At the end of this bulletin you’ll find an excerpt of Fr. Putnam’s homily from this past Sunday. I thought you might be interested in it, especially if you weren’t at Lingle this Sunday. It’s an interesting framework to use in reflecting on Lent and our call to repentance.~ Karen
FAQ…. WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?... OR, DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT LOVE
On Sunday at mass, Fr. Putnam discussed four ways to think about love, based on Greek philosophy and literature. Here’s an abbreviated version. But don’t approach this as a head trip (Oh those Greeks, weren’t they interesting?) Rather, as you wind down your Lenten journey this year, a journey of refocusing and reprioritizing, perhaps you could reflect on how love functions in your own life, who you love and how you love, and how you might better embody the agape love of Jesus.
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The New Testament was written in Greek, not English. And Greek has at least four different words for the single English word "love."
They all imply some kind of bond, connection, attraction, and appreciation between someone who loves and something or someone that is loved, but each one has a different shade of meaning.
The First Two Loves: Natural Affection and Eros
The first and most basic word for love in ancient Greek is "storge".
It means natural affection, the bond that we feel because of some natural connection.
- This affection can be sweet and superficial, as in the affection we feel for a favorite ice cream (I "love" Butter Pecan") or for a favorite pet (I "love" Fido).
- Or it can go very deep, as in the bond we feel naturally with members of our family. Even when siblings, for example, are estranged from each other for many years, there is still a unique bond between them, a natural connection or affection.
This type of natural affection doesn't really come up very much in the Bible.
The second Ancient Greek word for love is "eros".
- This is the kind of love we talk about when we say that someone has "fallen in love."
- This is the kind of passionate feeling that carries us away and fills us with intense and seemingly uncontrollable emotions.
- It can refer to the passion that leads two people to become romantically involved.
- Or it can refer to the passion that artists feel for their art or even that diehard sports fans feel for their sport.
- The common denominator here is that the passionate feeling tends to carry us away, even leading us to become unreasonable and imprudent. It doesn't have to, but in a fallen world it tends to.
- We need God's grace to help us channel and govern these passions in a fruitful, beautiful way.
This word only appears twice in the Bible, both times in the Old Testament.
Love #3 - Friendship
The third ancient Greek word for love is "philia".
- This word was used to describe a bond formed when two people share a common interest or ideal.
- It was used most often to refer to friendship.
- Instead of being based on instinctual affection or passionate intoxication, it was based on a conscious awareness and decision to share one's interests with another person.
- The key characteristic here is that the two friends who share this kind of love are equals. "Philia" was not usually used to describe the relationship between a father and son, for example, or between a master and a beloved slave - they were not equals.
This word does appear in the New Testament.
- It is used when Jesus says to his disciples at the Last Supper: "I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know the master's business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father" (John 15:15).
- God's grace not only forgives our sins, but it elevates us; it makes us like Him.
Imagine if we could give our favorite pet the ability to talk, laugh, and interact with us on a human level. Well, God has done that with us.
- Dog nature is inferior to human nature, and human nature is inferior to divine nature.
- But God in his goodness and through his grace has elevated our human nature and made us partakers in the divine nature.
- We are friends of Christ.
Love #4: Self-forgetfulness
The fourth word for love in ancient Greek is used far more frequently in the Bible than all the others combined.
It is "agape",sometimes translated as "charity."
Perhaps a better translation is "Christ-like love," since he revealed its meaning to us by his life, death, and resurrection.
This is the word used in today's Readings: "God so loved the world... because of the great love he had for us."
This is also the word used when Jesus gives his New Commandment at the Last Supper: "love one another as I have loved you."
- It's interesting that this word was used so often in the New Testament, because in other Greek writings from that same time period, it appears infrequently.
- As Pope Benedict XVI commented in his encyclical on love: "The tendency to avoid the word eros, together with the new vision of love expressed through the word agape, clearly point to something new and distinct about the Christian understanding of love" (Encyclical Letter Deus caritas est, #3).
What is the core meaning of this term [the "new and distinct" characteristic]?
Self-forgetfulness.
- This is the love that focuses on doing good to others, serving them, helping them in their needs, regardless of how I feel about them or what I might get in return.
- This is generous love, sacrificial love, self-giving love.
- This is the love of Jesus in the manger at Bethlehem, in the desert, and on the cross.... pouring out his life not because doing so filled him with ecstasy, but because we needed him to do it, because he wanted to restore hope to our sinful hearts and lead us back from our sinful exile into the Father's house.
When St John in his First Letter writes, "God is love," this is the word he uses.
God is completely self-forgetful, completely focused on our good, happiness, and fulfillment.
- That's why he created us: not for his happiness, but for ours.
- That's why he forgives us as often as we need to be forgiven.
- That's why he feeds us with the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
- That's why he carries our crosses with us, never leaving us to suffer alone.
- And since we were created in God's image, this God who is love, we will find the fulfillment we yearn for as we gradually learn to love in this same self-forgetful, Christ-like way.
Spreading the Sunrise
God's love for each of us is personal, active, unconditional and unlimited, and the crucifix proves it.
And today the Church is reminding us of that.
- After three weeks of Lenten penance, when we have been reminded of our sins and selfishness (the bad news), it is time to remember that it is precisely because of those sins and selfishness that Christ came to earth to save us (the Good News).
- That's the reason this Sunday is called "Laetare Sunday," the Sunday of Rejoicing ["Laetare" is the first word of the entrance antiphon in Latin].
- That's the reason we wear rose-colored vestments today.
- Just as the horizon begins to brighten and turn a pale pink as the sun starts to rise after a long, dark night, so the love of God in Christ pierces the darkness of sin and sends the shadows of evil fleeing the bright light of eternal day.
Today as Christ renews his unconditional love for us in this holy Mass, and especially as we receive him in Holy Communion, let's thank him for these gifts.
And let's ask him for the grace not only to experience his love, but to share that experience with others, especially those who are still living in darkness.
This week, may our active, Christ-like love be like a sunrise in their hearts, giving them hope and drawing them towards the saving fountain God's grace.
___________________
Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
