Love or Fear: both are in us, but which will we choose?

October 24-26, 2014

Dear Friends,

This Sunday's Gospel reading from Matthew, during which Jesus' continuing feuds with his adversaries includes his powerful affirmation of the place of love at the center of life, is a challenge to us in perhaps more ways than we would like to consider. 

This love, echoing from hallowed texts of the Hebrew Scriptures and lovingly affirmed by the Christ, remains always and everywhere radically open: open to God and open to others in the human family.  All others, as I read it, in the human family.

For more than a few of us, fear stands between our hearts and a full-scale no-holds-barred acceptance of this Godly teaching.  And, at first blush oddly enough, this being characterized more by fear than by love seems particularly evident among churches, church members, parishioners in the pews and preachers in the pulpit.  

We act, if not speak, as if there is more to fear than there is to love.  And these actions are limiting.  They lead not to life, but to death.  And what's more, all this is deceit.  The truth, as Old and New Testaments affirm strongly, is that love is the way to life.  And that there is everything before us to love, and nothing ultimately to fear.

These days of fear need us more than ever to be men and women of radical love.  Hear Jesus this weekend.  And answer the call to love of God and neighbor.

As always, can access an up-to-date listing of Mercer fall theological/spirituality events today at:
tinyurl.com/MercerFall14

Blessings,
John McGinty+

Dean
Canon for Formation 
The Very Rev. Canon John P. McGinty
Dean
Canon for Formation