Messages of Love and Inspiration
This is a selection of homilies preached by my husband over a span of 30+ years. He was an ordained Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church, and it was often said that he preached from his heart, as anyone who ever sat in a pew and listened can affirm.
It was first put together as a gift for our children and grandchildren, but soon after others became interested in having a copy.
Compiling these homilies into a book is something that I wanted to do ever since he died, and I think I just needed enough time to be able to do it without the wrenching pain of grief. Merely reading the homilies doesn’t begin to capture the power of the messages he delivered from the pulpit, but still, they are his and now they are yours.
Check out his warm and touching messages and meet his “Go Heap.”
Read an Excerpt
Are You Crazy? Matthew 22:34-40
Are you crazy? Are you mad? That’s what Dr. Ed Tenant and his wife were asked when they adopted twelve un-placeable children over the years. Twelve children who were crippled, sick, or with deformities that turned people off. Twelve throw-away children. To the Tenants, what they have done has been simply an expression of love. Simply responding to Jesus’s invitation to love with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind.
There are many theories, writings, philosophies about the subject of love. Some are very good:
Love is 100% for the other
Love is a decision, and action not a feeling
Love, then do what you will (St. Augustine)
Some are pretty bad:
Love is feeling good
Love is having sexual relationships
Love is giving another everything he or she wants.
When Jesus says, “Love the Lord with all your heart…” He implied that there are various levels of love. The first level is the minimal love, which consists of mutual sharing and fidelity which is the very essence of love. Without it there is no genuine love.
The next level of love is called the logic of love. At this level, the lover is never satisfied with the bare minimum. They always want to do more and search for ways to surprise and please the beloved.
The third level of love is called the folly of love. It is the most perfect love there is. At this level the lover does what others consider madness. Such would be the Tenants whose story I told you earlier. Such would be Mother Theresa who worked with the sick and the discarded humanity who stank of their own excrement and rot in the streets of Calcutta. She was crazy.
And of course, the folly of the cross. Jesus! And it is how Jesus shows us that we are lovable. We need to know that we are lovable and valuable.
In this folly of love, Jesus also invites us to love others as he loves us. He teaches us that we can help others by our love, just as he helped us by his love. But we can’t do that unless we realize that we are indeed lovable ourselves.
Finally, besides showing us that we are lovable and inviting us to love others, this folly love of Jesus reveals to us that love entails suffering.
It is painful when a loved one gets angry and hurts us.
It is painful to forget we are hurt and to forgive.
It is painful to be humble and admit it when we are wrong.
It is painful to be patient with the same person day in and day out.
It is painful to swallow our pride.
The good news today is:
It is in loving that we give glory to God.
It is in loving that we give happiness to others.
And it is in loving that we find meaning for our own lives.
Crazy. Crazy love!