Wisdom and Joy: Hold Onto Love

And Jesus went down with them to Jerusalem,

and he grew in wisdom and age and favor among God and man.

With the passing of time we certainly grow in age,

but we do not always necessarily grow in wisdom.

There are no guarantees that wisdom comes with age!

It is one of those things that is an opportunity for us,

but we have to apply the lessons that happen in our life

in order for us to gain the wisdom from those moments.

There is no guarantee in that relationship.

One has to work on it in our mind and in our hearts.

I found over the years that the wiser people among us,

are in fact older in years or age than most of us

and they have learned to be gentler, kinder,

and have an easing of the soul in all ways.

I find that so much gives them joy

especially their grandchildren and the simple things of life.

I find them to be gentle, mellow presence and easy company.

I suppose if one measures on the opposite end,

if we are not becoming becoming gentler,

if we are not becoming more joyful

or more loving over the years,

then somehow we are not living the gospel

quite the way the Lord is asking us.

We are not wise as the gospels portray it.

We are called to be more joyful.

Ultimately the gospel is a gospel of joy.

The ultimate message is that when we die,

which is eventually what we will do,

we will meet the Lord.

And that is the most joyful moment of all now.

Not that we want to precipitate it,

but that is our ultimate destination.

And we come to be more mellow.

I suppose the mellower we are then

the more ready we are to meet the Lord.

This constant theme of joy comes up over and over again,

and it is worth just spending a moment on it.

One of our parishioners gave me a book

written by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu,

two spiritually leaders from two different worlds.

They came together in an epic conversation over two weeks;

it was recorded and then made into a book called The Book of Joy.

It is a wonderful read of two, not just spiritual leaders,

but two friends embracing one another

from completely different worlds

and realizing how much they have in common.

And how the joy is the one thing that is common for us.

We all seek joy as a meaningful part of our life.

They go through the difference between happiness and joy,

and I think we have all heard the difference.

But just to recap happiness is based on

circumstances, events, and externals realities.

The stuff that affects our senses, if you would.

A song we like, it gives us pleasure.

And so there is sensual pleasure to the senses.

Or we taste something we like. whether it is wine or food.

Or we hear something, see something.

But then when it is gone, the happiness is gone.

Joy, on the other hand, transcends circumstances or events.

Joy is internal reality.

It is what one chooses in the face of

circumstances beyond the sensual level.

We can be joyful because of the gift of life itself.

They make the assertion that joy ultimately comes from relationships

and relationships are built on trust.

Trust in a relationship only comes about by sincere love,

the love that says, I care for you because of you

and the other person not only just feels that love,

but experiences that love from us.

That we love them, not because of what they do or have,

but for who they are in their core of being in our life.

That is really powerful, this love.

This is the very thing that this letter to the Collosians hammers away at.

These lines underline what the book says:

gentleness, kindness, and heartfelt compassion.

That is that deep love for the other.

Deep love for yourself and others,

a sincere love that I want the best for the other person

regardless whether they are friend or foe.

Then he completes this circle by saying,

“Put on love about all these things.”

Be forgiving, but put on the garment of love.

Wrap it all in love.

See, it is love that makes it all come together.

We cannot get the joy unless we are willing to love and to be loved.

That is what gives us ultimate joy.

And in every relationship with which we share love and are loved,

will spring a hundredfold of energy of joy in our life.

Where we see that and we learn that first in our life

is hopefully in our families.

Today we celebrate the gift of the Holy Family,

the reality of love is the ideal for all of us.

Now we all know, let’s face it,

that the crucible of family life is

not as holy as the Holy Family.

We struggle sometimes because, let’s face it,

our love in those families is when we first experienced love.

But it is also where we first experienced pain.

Most often it is our family members who love us the first

and as those who also hurt us first.

We have to be honest about that.

It works both ways

because we make ourselves vulnerable

to our families and to our loved ones.

And as a result, we get both.

But we need to hold onto the love

because it is that love that transforms us at every time.

That even though that they may hurt us,

they still love us, they make mistakes,

and of course we make mistakes,

and we need to continue to do as this letter to Collosians.

It is heartfelt compassion, gentleness, kindness,

to forgive their mistakes and to put on love over all of this.

In the end, the family is the first place we learn to love.

But is not the only place. We are called

to take the love we have experienced in the love of the family

and extend it to the rest of society,

to our friends, to our extended family, of course.

But if we only just do it inside our extended family,

then the Colossians will say, what difference

are we than anyone else.

He wants to make a distinction about what we are called to do.

I believe is the whole of humanity is the Holy Family for us.

We are all children of God, every single one of us.

And that means that we are called to extend this love,

this heartfelt compassion to all human beings everywhere.

Whether they share our faith or

whether they do not share our faith,

whether they come from different backgrounds

or whether the same background

whether they come from our nuclear family or they do not,

we are called to love in the midst of this whole journey of wisdom.

There is a beautiful song that articulates this message

called Hold on to Love.

In the difficult times, whether it is inside our family

or whether it is pain or suffering,

or whether it is difficult things in our life

we are called to hold onto love.

A friend of mine wrote it.

His name is Jesse Manibusan.

It is a beautiful song and it talks about how

we are called to hold on to love at all times.

I want to finish the homily with a few verses from that song.

So I ask Jed and John to sing and play it now:

Hold On to Love

(Jesse Manibusan)

There is a place for the sadness. Hold on to Love.

There is a season of gladness. Hold on to Love.

When pain and confusion seem endless, hold on to Love.

We cultivate healing through kindness. Hold on to Love.

Hold on to Love, where hope is found.

Hold on to Love, where joy abounds.

Hold on to Love, where grace and mercy’s overflowing.

Hold on to Love.

When terror and fear overwhelm us, hold on to Love.

Courage and faith will sustain us. Hold on to Love.

When violence seeks to destroy us, hold on to Love.

Acts of compassion restore us. Hold on to Love.

When hatred is used to divide us, hold on to Love.

Wisdom and truth reunite us. Hold on to Love.

When prejudice poses as freedom, hold on to Love.

Dignity means “all are welcome!” Hold on to Love.

Hold on to Love, where hope is found.

Hold on to Love, where joy abounds.

Hold on to Love, where grace and mercy’s overflowing.

Hold on to Love.