Dear Cathedral Family,
This week we received a letter from Feeding the Gulf Coast acknowledging the $2300 you gave through our Rally Day Outreach Brunch in support of their work. In September, your support helped to make a difference in the lives of those affected by Hurricane Ida, helping provide 11,500 meals for families and individuals. As we approach the holiday season, many of our neighbors are facing uncertainty in their lives and will need our loving care.
In the gospel lesson this Sunday, Jesus answers the challenging question of a scribe: “which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus replies that the first is “the Lord is one” and that you shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. To this, Jesus immediately adds another: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” concluding, “There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Jesus ties the love of God directly to love of neighbor—not “as much” as one’s self, but AS oneself. Not only is God “one”; we are “one” with every other person. Loving care for our neighbors in need is not “charity”; it is really not even “outreach”; it is seeing that your neighbor IS you. And more: that the one “you” is one with and in God. Loving care for our neighbors is
loving God.
Our faith as Christians is not found in agreeing about certain beliefs, but about living relationship with Jesus—seeing with his eyes, loving with his heart, and seeking and serving him in all people.
Faithfully,
Beverly+