As you know, I am not from here. Maybe you noticed this from the first day that I came to our parish. Now I wonder, how could you know that I am an international priest? Is it because of my appearance? Do I look very Latino? Or, is it because you listen to me and hear that I speak with a different accent? There is something different about me. Maybe you know what it is or maybe not, but there is something, which makes me a little bit different from you. It was a similar case when the apostles started to preach the gospel. I am very sure that Peter was not Colombian, but he had something that made him and the first Christians different from other apostles and other people who preached pagan gods. It wasn’t their appearance, or their accent, or their nationality, but something else that motivated others to adopt the Christian life and following the Risen Christ, who died on the cross for the salvation of all humanity.

The question, my brothers and sisters, is what motivated the listeners to change their lifestyles and become Christians. This was a style of living that was (and is still today) characterized by love, which is the first and most important commandment of the Lord, just as we just heard in the gospel.

Love is the main characteristic of those who follow Christ because He not only commanded that we need to love one another, but through His sacrifice on the cross He demonstrated His love for us. Let us think for a moment, how can we demonstrate that we love our neighbor? Each time that a parent spends his/her time preparing the food for the family, when a child studies with responsibility, when a young man proposes matrimony to his girlfriend, all of them are demonstrating that they are truly disciples of Christ.… Through each act of love that we do, in our daily lives we are showing that we are disciples of Christ, because as Jesus said in the Gospel, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Jesus taught us that Love is the summary of the Ten Commandments given by God through Moses on Mount Sinai. Really, this commandment is not new, but the way that Jesus loves us renewed all the law that God gave us in the Old Testament through Moses and the prophets. We should love God and our neighbor, and this, my sisters and brothers, is the summary of the Ten Commandments. Love is the new commandment given by Jesus. This commandment is perfect because love has no limits. St. John in his first letter, in chapter 4 verse 8 says, “God is Love.” If God is Love, love is perfect. And we transmit this love if we are truly followers of Christ. We need to be united with Him through the Eucharist. The Eucharist celebrated in the Church is the expression of Christ’s love for us. Hence, we cannot leave the Eucharist being the same people who came into the Church, because through the Eucharist we can transform our world into a “new earth,” which is described by St. John in the book of Revelations.

Let us allow the love of God to be in us so that we can go to proclaim the gospel of the Risen Lord through our words and works. This is our task, to love one another as Jesus loves us.

Remember, The Parish that we dream is the parish that I help to build!

God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!

Fr. Jorge Ramirez

Holy Trinity Church… 165 Evangelizing!