The Feast of St John Eudes, Priest and Founder.

"LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND.... LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS, BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURES ALL THINGS."  (1 CORINTHIANS 13: 4 - 7).

“When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

"Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your ­neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 34 - 40).

Friday 19th August 2022 of the 20th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St John Eudes (1601 - 1680).

St John Eudes was a French priest and a gifted preacher. John took a private vow of chastity at the age of 14 and was ordained a priest at 25.  He became a great and talented preacher of the Gospel and an eminent evangelist. St John Eudes had great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He founded the Society of Jesus and Mary (Eudists).  He later founded the Order of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge for ex prostitutes. He was declared by Pope Leo XIII as “father, doctor, and apostle of the liturgical cult of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.”

In answer to the question of a Pharisee scholar as to the greatest commandment in the Book, Jesus answered with the short Gospel for today. Love God and love neighbor always, everywhere and in everything. Sounds a bit intimidating and impossible. If God asks us to do this, then it is possible.  For God will never ask us to do what is impossible. For  God "all things are possible."  All things are easy for God.

In the first Reading (Ezekiel 37: 1 - 14), the Lord says:  "I will put my spirit in you that you may come to life." (Ezekiel 37: 14). Yes, the Holy Spirit in us makes it possible for us to love God and neighbor. In Baptism, we receive the Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit.  The very first of the twelve fruits of the Spirit is love. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of life. Without the Holy Spirit we are like the dried bones in the valley of Ezekiel's vision. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Liberty to always choose the best. And the best is love.

For the Christian, love of God and love of neighbor is the way of life. It is the beginning of eternal life here and all the way to eternity.

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