More than 200 young adult ministry leaders of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles were encouraged to reach out to those who might oppose and even despise them, at the 12th annual Mass celebrating young adults in ministry Feb. 17.
"Is it possible to do what Jesus asks --- love your enemies?" Cardinal Roger Mahony asked the assembly at St. Elizabeth Church, Altadena, in his homily as he reflected on St. Luke's Gospel reading of the day ""Do good to those who hate you").
"Being heroic, loving our enemies, is so countercultural, for human nature calls us to respond in kind, to get back at those who hurt us," noted the cardinal. "But Jesus calls us to have values totally different from those of the world, to be super-generous in our outreach. And as Catholics, this is what we must do to live out our discipleship."
Cardinal Mahony called Southern California, with its tremendous racial and ethnic diversity, "fertile ground for you and me to show how much we love one another." He encouraged young adults to move beyond the safety and comfort of spending time only with "the groups of people we like," and to reach and out and welcome one another "with generosity, love and kindness as our Lord Jesus called us to do."
And he invited young adults to reflect on ways in which they could make a positive difference in the world, and how they could more fully live out "the tremendous challenge of this Gospel."
The annual celebration was sponsored by the Ministry with Young Adults and Pastoral Juvenil in the archdiocesan Office of Religious Education. The honorees included women and men from parishes and organizations selected for excellence in service and dedication to ministry in the five pastoral regions of the archdiocese. ---Mike Nelson |