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The Greatest Love Story of All Time
What comes to mind when you
think of the greatest love stories ever told? Is it Romeo and Juliet, West Side
Story—a modern retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy—or even Titanic?
These
tales capture the heights of human passion but share one common thread: they
pale in comparison to the love story between God and humanity.
Also,
in all 3 cases – I have to tell you – the lovers do not end up together.
In
Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, miscommunication leads to heartbreak and
death. In Titanic, love emerges from extraordinary circumstances, yet Jack and
Rose ultimately part—one lost forever to the deep. But God's love story is
different. Yes, Jesus dies, but He rises on the third day, conquering death and
offering us eternal life.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life." (John 3:16) This is the love story we celebrate its beginning at Christmas.
A Place of Worship and Light
Welcome to Our Lady of Lourdes
Church, a sacred place of worship and light since its founding in 1914. Whether
this is your first visit, a rare occasion, or your regular parish home, we are
glad you are here to celebrate the Christmas Gospel.
This church reminds us of the
beginning of our love story with God. It is here we encounter the incarnate
love of Jesus, who came to share God's mercy with all—even those who do not yet
know Him.
God's Mercy: The Door to His Love
Jesus' birth is the ultimate
sign of God's mercy. His incarnation—becoming human—invites us into the door of
this love story. Unlike the fleeting moments in worldly love stories, God's
mercy calls us to repentance, transformation, and new life.
In our faith journey, we often move from being lost to being found. Consider Titanic: Jack and Rose find each other against all odds. Yet their love story ends in tragedy, as Jack sinks into the depths. God does not want us to sink. He calls us to come to Him in our sinfulness, seek forgiveness, and live anew.
The Sacrament of Mercy
For Catholics, accepting God's
mercy involves repentance, particularly through the Sacrament of Penance and
Reconciliation. Confession is not merely about saying "I'm sorry"; it
is about beginning again. Ideally, this happens not just once a year but
monthly or even more frequently, allowing us to experience God's mercy
regularly.
Through this sacrament, we recognize that life is a series of moments where we are lost and then found. Each encounter with God's mercy strengthens us to forgive others and embrace the light of Christ.
A Personal Story of Mercy
Recently, I experienced a
moment of mercy that taught me about God's love.
This happened a few weeks ago.
My brother and his family live in Los Angeles, and they have one son who's in
college here on the East Coast in Connecticut. He's a freshman in college.
Since he was finishing his first semester, we collaborated on trying to find a
way for him to get from college in Connecticut back to stay in New Jersey, so
he could fly out of Newark Airport. The plan was that he would stay in NJ with
his grandparents – my parents – for 1 or 2 nights prior to the flight.
But, how would get here?
Should he take the bus from Connecticut to New Jersey? Was there a bus? Is
there Amtrak? Can he get a ride with somebody else? You can imagine the
innumerable messages back and forth between family members. This was all good.
We're all trying to figure out logistically what to do.
I
thought I would go and pick him up, but the timing didn't work out. And it
turned out my brother and my father went to pick Leo up. His name is Leo. He got picked up on a Sunday morning so that
he could stay in NJ for 1 day with his grandparents and fly from Newark Airport
on Monday, the following day.
The Problem
Sometime after he safely arrived in NJ at Grandpa’s
house, I received a call at 2 p.m. from my father, saying, in a sense:
“Houston, we have a problem.”
My 18-year-old nephew Leo, had left his wallet and
ID in his dorm room in Connecticut. This was an issue because he needed his ID
to board the airplane to Los Angeles. While others had driven Leo from
Connecticut to New Jersey earlier that day, the task of retrieving his
forgotten wallet now fell to me.
Despite the inconvenience, I offered to go. As we set off on the 4½-hour round trip, I realized this might be a rare opportunity to spend time one-on-one with my nephew. Life is short, and moments like these are precious.
During our drive, I reflected on mercy. Leo felt he deserved to be penalized for his mistake, but I wanted to respond with grace. He offered to buy me dinner as repayment, but instead, I treated him to McDonald’s. I shared a story of my own—the time I lost my wallet in Washington, D.C., and a compassionate taxi driver went to great lengths to return it to me. “I’m just paying it forward,” I told him.
Deep down, though, I recognized a personal struggle: it’s often easier to show mercy to others than to ourselves.
Yet, the Christmas season reminds us of God’s boundless mercy. We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Do we need to accept God’s mercy in our own lives? Do we need to forgive someone close to us? Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and sometimes that neighbor is within our own family.
[09] The brightness of our faith—expressed in both word and deed—is vital. Our light may clash with the darkness around us, whether in our family, workplace, or community. Yet, even when faced with rejection or indifference, our light matters.
[10] This Christmas and beyond, let us embrace our call to be the light of the world. By our prayers, fasting, acts of charity, and faithfulness, we illuminate the darkness. Your presence here at Mass, today and every Sunday, is part of that light. Through Jesus, our Savior, we are called to reflect His light and to remember that in the end – he wants us to end up with Him in heaven.
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