If my tomato plants seem to be too small, and I try to simply stretch them until they are big enough, I will ruin them. I have to supply the conditions under which they can grow on their own, taking in sun and water and turning it into the fruit.<\/p>\n
Something similar is true about humans and human communities, from the family to entire countries and the community of all mankind. To regulate everything by exterior principles, by a multiplicity of laws and policies, is impossible and counterproductive, diminishing the interior freedom necessary to live well. Each of us needs to be orderly within himself, to have a healthy and peaceful human community.<\/p>\n
St. James points to the passions as sources of all kinds of disorder among men.
\nThe passions are part of who we are: it\u2019s good and normal to be hungry when we need food and to be satisfied when we\u2019ve had a good meal; it\u2019s likewise good and normal to want recognition, success, justice.<\/p>\n
While the desire for money, food, or pleasure can lead us to excess, often a more insidious problem is presented by desires, that clothes themselves with an appearance of justice and a deeper purpose: pride, ambition, jealousy\u2026 \u201cWe\u2019re being treated unfairly, others receive more recognition or money from the Church. We can\u2019t accept that.\u201d Or \u201cHe began!\u2026 He is in the wrong. HE has to make an apology.\u201d Or \u201cThey are completely wrong\u2026 they have to recognize and correct their mistake, before there\u2019s any point in talking with them.\u201d
\nWhat is the solution? The solution, or starting point of a solution is not to reject or repel one\u2019s own desire for justice, but to put it in the context of service, which can sometimes recognize the \u201cright\u201d thing to do in giving in, even if the other person is objectively \u201cwrong\u201d.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean being a wimp, or pretending that everything is just fine. Jesus says, \u201che who would be the first\u2026 should make himself the servant of all<\/em>.\u201d We are not to be the slave of one person, obeying and accepting everything from that person, but able to see behind a conflict between two sides, and despite various difficulties, look out for and seek the common good, the good of all.<\/p>\n Sometimes we make heavy crosses for ourselves in life with others, because we are simply in principle unwilling ever to give in or to give way. To be considerate, however, to have understanding for the point of view of others, even if we disagree with them, to make allowances for the weaknesses of others, to exercise patience and make sacrifices out of faith in God\u2019s love, smooths our own way, and brings us closer to God\u2019s kingdom, where he is all and in all.<\/p>\n (This is my homily text from the 25th Sunday of Ordinary time in 2015).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If my tomato plants seem to be too small, and I try to simply stretch them until they are big enough, I will ruin them. I have to supply the conditions under which they can grow on their own, taking in sun and water and turning it into the fruit. Something similar is true about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions\/1449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathsoflove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}