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Given at Christian Brothers College High School, Town and Country, Missouri. Readings for Today. Listen to our other homilies.
Three Little Words
This is the season for graduation addresses. Today, in three little words, Jesus gives the theme of his graduation address. Love one another. We can sometimes make the spiritual life more complicated than it needs to be. There are two rules. Love God. Love Neighbor as yourself. Every aspect of the spiritual life is ordered to these two rules.
How is it, as a graduating class moves on to the next element of their lives, they can find happiness and fulfillment? They would be well served to think about these two rules. Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself.
The catch, is, of course, that there are neighbors we may not want to love. We may not like them. There are times when loving God means doing something really hard, taking on a big challenge. As parents can attest, sometimes loving a child is about sacrifice. It is not always easy.
But as we look at the most important aspect of life, parents, for example, would also suggest, I think, that the sacrifice is the only way that true love can arise. So as we think of the life ahead, which we cannot predict or control, we need, I think, to focus on these rules. Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. That is all we need to know.
