On the feast day of St. Januarius, one of the quotes of St. Augustine from the second reading of the Liturgy of Hours says, "The greater one’s love is, the easier is the work." After reading this I thought about my father who is now in a local nursing home in the Omaha area.
Haven’t we all visited people in nursing homes? When making a nursing home visit, how long do we feel like staying? Are we itching to leave after our initial greeting? When I visit my father I can stay for hours. Why? Because I love him, "The greater one’s love is, the easier is the work." I am never in a hurry to leave. When together, I often bring up our hunting and fishing trips. I am most grateful though for instilling in me a love for the Mass and the holy rosary. Many rosaries were said driving to and from our secret hunting spots and fishing holes. I believe that one of the last things he will lose as his dementia progresses is the prayers and mysteries of the rosary. His go-to mysteries now are the Glorious.
As I further meditated on this quotation from St. Augustine, I told our CSS staff in a homily that when we love Jesus present in our neighbor, then our work here at CSS becomes easy. This is important since not everyone who walks into our doors is in a good mood. This is understandable since many of those who come to us have been suffering the effects of poverty either acutely or chronically. ‘If we love Jesus Christ present in them, then our jobs will be easy…’
This was the cause of the arrest, torture and death of St. Januarius during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Instead of staying in perpetual hiding for fear of arrest and execution, he felt compelled to visit his fellow members of the clergy and faithful laity of Benevento. It is said that after his arrest, he was thrown to wild beasts and was martyred. In a real sense, this was easy for him for, "The greater one’s love is, the easier is the work."
I then reflected on our countless donors who support us by their prayers, along with their material and cash donations. I was reminded once again that they help us because of their love of Jesus Christ and His presence in the poor and needy. There is no other reason for it. Not only is this personally edifying to me but a source of great hope.
My prayer is that all of us, through the frequent reception of the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance augmented by a vigorous prayer life, will all grow closer to God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit so we will continue to love each other which will become easier and easier for, "The greater one’s love is, the easier is the work."
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us, Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us, all of our patron saints, pray for us!
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