September 5, 2008
Sunday Scripture readings
Love one another, over and over again
by Father John Jay Hughes
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME
SEPTEMBER 7
Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95;
Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20.
"Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another," Paul tells us in the second reading for this weekend’s Masses.
But can we love on command? Certainly not, if the kind of love Paul is talking about is a matter of our feelings. Paul is talking not about feelings but an attitude. Here is an example. It was sent to me by a successful architect. He writes:
"Thirty years ago, I was driving a cab for a living. When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground-floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But, I had seen too many people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless I smelled of danger, I always went to the door.
"So I walked to the door and knocked. ‘Just a minute,’ answered a frail, elderly voice. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. All the furniture in the apartment was covered with sheets. ‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.
"‘It’s nothing,’ I told her. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.’ ‘Oh, you’re such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’ ‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I told her. ‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.’ I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don't have any family left,’ she continued. ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. ‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.
"For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived as newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. At the first hint of sun, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now.’
"We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
"‘How much do I owe you?’ she asked, reaching into her purse. ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘You have to make a living,’ she answered. ‘There are other passengers,’ I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. ‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’ I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
"I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware — beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one."
That man’s story is a beautiful example of what Paul is talking about in our second reading: "Owe nothing to anyone except to love another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments are (all) summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law."
That kind of love is not inborn. It must be given to us. That is why we come to Mass: to receive that love, from the One who is love himself. His name is Jesus Christ.
Father Hughes is a retired priest of the St. Louis Archdiocese.
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