Love in Relations and Friends - Katie Burke

Our guest today is Katie Burke, a fellow parishioner at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Edina, MN. Katie has an extraordinary gift of parish participation, prayer and music ministry. Here Katie reflects on St. John Henry Newman’s 1831 sermon, “Love of Relations and Friends.” Newman helps us understand that St. John, as the intimate friend of Jesus, protector of His mother, and the visionary for everlasting life shows us that all relationships must start with our relationship with Christ. Newman writes, “we cannot love those about whom we know nothing; except indeed we view them in Christ, as the objects of His Atonement, that is, rather in faith than in love.” Katie shares that Divine love rests in this instinct of love for others. It is not easy to love those that aren’t like us. We need to ask God - how do You love them? Christ is there. Love them in faith in Jesus Christ – then we can love everyone in Christ. Faith in Christ anchors our love for others. It is the participation in something unchangeable and good that take us into this beautiful mystery of love. If we attempt to love outside of the love directed by Christ and His Church, we are grounded in worldly love filled with instability. Rather, loving in Christ, grounds our love in something unchangeable. The ever-changing world has a broad definition of truth where Christ and His Church gives us a definite, unchangeable truth. This is a major relief. We can reach our end from firm ground while avoiding the world’s aims which are limited, shifting, and passing. Finally, Christian love stems from humility and self-denial. When the two are united we find true love. Katie, as a single person, sees the need to ground her life in God to naturally carrying His love to others. This order of love defines who she is. The Conciliar Document, St. John Paul II states that “man finds himself in the sincere gift of himself.” In The Blessed Sacrament, the memorial of pure self-gift, we are bonded with the selfless love of Christ. We are made holy and consecrated in the here and now to love others in Christ. We are not our own. We are here for self-gift. 

Him in Us by VENERABLE MADELEINE DELBRÊL can be found at newmanontap.com

Tantum ergo Sacramentum (Latin and English) can be found at newmanontap.com

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.