Why do we often give strangers our patience while giving the people closest to us our anger, impatience and harshest words?

In this Byzantine Catholic homily, we reflect upon Christ’s two inseparable commandments: to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind—and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Christian love is not merely an emotion or sentimental feeling. It is a decision about how we will live before God and how we will treat the person standing before us.

It is easy to speak about loving humanity in general. It is far more difficult to remain patient with an irritating person, forgive someone who has hurt us, control our tongue when we are angry and serve without expecting recognition.

Much of holiness is built through these ordinary daily choices:

• How do I speak to my spouse and children?
• Do I honor and respect my parents?
• Can I listen without immediately judging?
• Can I forgive without repeatedly reopening the wound?
• Do the people closest to me experience Jesus Christ through me?

Love for our neighbor must begin with love for God. Money, work, entertainment, politics, sports, social media and personal comfort all compete for the first place in our hearts. God cannot be limited to one hour on Sunday. He must become the center around which the whole of life is arranged.

Christian love does not mean pretending that everything is good or abandoning the truth. Sometimes love comforts, and sometimes love must speak clearly. But truth must never become an excuse for cruelty, hatred or pride. We can defend what is right without losing our Christian hearts.

At the end of our lives, God will not be impressed by how many arguments we won. What will matter is whether we loved Him, whether that love changed how we lived and whether others encountered Christ through us.

May our love never remain only in words, but become the way we live every day.

Download the Sensus Fidelium app: https://sensusfidelium.tv

00:00 Opening
00:55 Those we love sometimes receive our worst
01:08 Patience for strangers—but not our families
02:12 What does it actually mean to love?
02:24 The world’s confused use of the word “love”
03:00 Christian love is a decision
03:21 Love of God and love of neighbor
03:52 Christianity becomes difficult
04:13 Loving the difficult person before us
04:28 Forgiveness and controlling the tongue
04:50 Holiness is built through daily life
05:05 How do we treat our families?
05:19 Listening without immediate judgment
05:26 Forgiving without reopening old wounds
05:43 Meeting Christ in the people around us
06:06 God must come first
06:22 What competes for first place in our hearts?
06:43 Is God limited to one hour on Sunday?
07:05 Making God the center of life
07:14 What does God want from this decision?
07:24 Will this lead me closer to Christ?
07:35 Would Christ approve of these words?
07:48 Who comes first on Sunday?
07:56 Love for God must become visible
08:05 Prayer, fasting and the Lord’s Day
08:12 Confession and the Holy Mysteries
08:18 Teaching children the sign of the Cross
08:29 Love requires faithfulness
08:59 Christian love does not abandon truth
09:16 Sometimes love must speak the truth
09:25 Truth must never become cruelty
09:37 Defending truth with a Christian heart
09:46 The challenge facing Christians today
10:09 Does my neighbor deserve my love?
10:25 What will matter at the end of life?
10:52 What kind of heart will we bring before God?
11:08 Do others experience Christ through us?
11:24 Closing prayer and blessing
11:59 May our love become the way we live
12:35 Download the Sensus Fidelium app

#ChristianLove #LoveGod #LoveYourNeighbor #ByzantineCatholic #CatholicHomily


For more please visit @steliasbyzantinecatholicch5629 & remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the priest

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