Christ The King Catholic Community-

To all the Moms in our parishes, we Frs. Tims want to wish you a HAPPY MOTH- ERS’ DAY!! We Frs. are so blessed to have very loving, supportive, and strong Mothers. Some of you have “virtually met” them through comments on our live-streamed Masses and especially on our Facebook “chats”. We so enjoy seeing their names pop up in the FB feed and comments. Neither of them is shy about setting us straight when our memories fail or when they differ in opinion. We would want it no other way!!

We hope that all of us can find ways to celebrate our Mothers and to let them know what they mean to us. May Mothers’ Day be a day when we focus our appreciation of and our attention on our Mothers. May this day, however, be made all the more meaningful for our Moms because we honor them each and every day—in word, deed, and prayer. If your Mom is deceased, may your memories and prayers honor her; may she be inter- ceding for you—an eternal way of keeping you in her love!

Readings: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Psalm 98:1, 2-3a, 3b-4 (R: “The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.”); 1 John 4:11-16; John 15:9-17

While these Scripture passages are rich lessons for us for this Easter Season Sunday, it seems providential that they also fall on Mothers’ Day. This is especially true because of the focus on God’s love in I John and the Gospel of John. Both readings affirm that God first loved us. “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (I Jn 4:10). And, “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As the Father loves me, so I also love you’” (Jn 15:9). Because we have first been loved by the Father—and the Son—we are to “love one another” (I Jn 4:7; Jn 15:17).

Just how are we supposed to love one another? Jesus says, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you” (Jn 15:12). Just what does “as” mean? After all, if we are going to get this right, we better dig into this word that Jesus in Jn 15 uses two important times—the one just quoted and the one quoted earlier: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you”.

Much like our word “as”, the Greek word kathōs (καθώς) has various nuances. It can be used as a comparison, that is to say, we are to love one another “just as”, in the “same way”, that Jesus loves us. That is a tall order! The next nuance is no easier: Kathōs can indicate extent or degree. In this case, we are to love another “to the same extent” that Jesus has loved us. In both of these nuances/ meanings, we are to love in the same way and to the same extent that Jesus has loved—that is, to the giving of our very lives in loving one another.

There is, however, some GOOD NEWS, that is “Gospel”, in this little word “as”, kathōs. We can see a third nuance/meaning in the two usages in Jn 15: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you”; “Love one another as I have loved you.” Kathōs can indicate cause, that is to say, “because” or “since” the Father loves Jesus, he loves us. “Because” or “since” Jesus loves us, we are to love one another. Therefore, the GOOD NEWS is that we don’t love simply on our own power, but because we have been given the ability to love by having first been loved by God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is why it is so essential for us to remain in the True Vine (from last week), who remains in the Vine Grower’s, the Father’s, love. “Just as”, “to the same extent”, “because” Jesus remains in the Father’s love, he loves us. AND, “Just as”, “to the same extent”, “because” we remain in Jesus’ love, we have the grace needed to love one another. In addition, Jesus wants us to see our relationship as being his “friend”, not a slave. To experience the power of Jesus’ love, we are invited into this friendship marked by relationship of giving of self and sharing what the Father is doing in and through us.

And what is this “love” of which I John and Jesus in John 15 speak? The Greek word for this love is agapē (ἀγάπη); it is the word that is used in all the NT love commands. This “love” is not so much marked by feelings, as it is by the decision to hold the other in esteem, to have regard and respect for the other. Even though he is writing as a philosopher and psychoanalyst, Erich Fromm, in his classic work, The Art of Loving, notes four characteristics of love that relate well to agapē: responsibility, knowledge, respect, care.

•   Responsibility, in the sense that we acknowledge we have the ability to respond to the other person. The Scriptures assure us of this “responsibility”, this ability to respond, by showing us that we have first been loved by God.

•   Knowledge: We can only love what we know, and we can only be loved as much as we allow ourselves to be known. The Scriptures assure us that we are fully known by God, and thus we are loved completely, unconditionally. We can love God the Father, for he has been fully revealed to us by his Son. We know, too, the Son, for the Scriptures testify to him and reveal how he has first loved us.

•   Respect is to see another person as one deserving of all the good and esteem that we see for ourselves (if we have a healthy sense of ourselves). This allowed Peter to see the

Holy Spirit at work even in the Gentile household of Cornelius (our reading from Acts of the Apostles). The respect that we need/deserve is not based on our merit, but on the dignity with which each human person has been created— the dignity grounded on being created in the image and likeness of God.

 Care is to have concern for the other, even beyond what s/ he has “earned” from us. We see that Jesus had that kind of love for us when he laid down his life for us, his friends, even though we had not earned it! We certainly need that great care and mercy of our Lord, for in this way, Jesus laid down his life “as expiation for our sins” (I Jn 4:10).

May all of us be moved to a deeper friendship with our Lord Jesus Christ, so that his love for us can be the ground and grace of the love we can have for one another. May we also acknowledge all the people in our lives whose love has helped us to come to faith in the Lord and has helped us to be able to love others. On this Mothers’ Day, may we be sure to thank our Mothers for the ways in which they have loved us “as” God first loved them!

This is a “Stewardship Prayer” from Our Sunday Visitor. We Frs. Tims believe that the prayer provides all of us good food for reflection.

My parish is composed of people like me. I help make it what it is.
It will be friendly, if I am.
It will be holy, if I am.
Its pews will be filled, if I help fill them.
It will do great work, if I work.
It will be prayerful, if I pray.
It will make generous gifts to many causes, if I am a generous giver.
It will bring others into worship, if I invite and bring them in.
It will be a place of loyalty and love, of fearlessness and faith,
of compassion, charity and mercy,
if I, who make it what it is, am filled with these same things.
Therefore, with the help of God,
I now dedicate myself to the task of being all
the things that I want my parish to be.
Amen.

ST BERNARD-Breda
Office Hours Mon - Fri: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Phone: 712-673-2582
stbernard@westianet.net

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST-Arcadia
Office Hours: Mon & Fri 7:30-11:30 am Phone: 712-689-2595
stjohnarcadia@gmail.com

ST AUGUSTINE-Halbur
Office Hours Mon & Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Phone: 712-658-2464
Fax: 712-658-2464 staug@iowatelecom.net

PASTOR
Rev. Timothy A. Friedrichsen
Breda Rectory Office (712-673-2351) t.a.friedrichsen@gmail.com

PAROCHIAL VICAR
Rev. Timothy A. Pick
Breda School Office (712-673-2582) 
pickt@scdiocese.org

Donna Wesely
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Phone: 712-673-2582
stbernard@westianet.net