Transcript

The concept of love your neighbor has kinda taken on a different meaning for me, um, since I've become Catholic.

Of course, it embodies everything that we think of when we hear, Love your neighbor.

Clothing the naked, visiting the sick, providing financial help to the poor, um, a home for the homeless.

All of those things, of course, are, um, are important, uh, in living our Catholic daily life.

But for me especially, um, in these modern times of, of all of these different moral issues flying around, love your neighbor to me also means guiding your neighbor, guiding your friend towards the truth.

I've It seems nowadays that, um, the notion is pushed that to tr- to, to love someone, you have to let them do what they feel.

You have to let them do what they think is best.

And, and whatever they wanna do, that's what goes because that's what's gonna make them happy.

But the Catholic Church shows us that if you truly love someone, if you truly love your friend, if you truly love your husband, then you sometimes have to say, No, that's not right.

This is, this might make you happy right now, but here's what's going to give you true joy.

For me, love of neighbor is, um, a path that really brought me to the Church.

Um, I've always had a pursuit of God and, um, desire to get close and intimate with God.

And the first, uh, ministry I was involved in, certainly as a chaplain, w- was walking with people who are suffering.

And you get up close and personal with, um, incredible tragedy and pain.

And there, I saw God at work.

And that's how I, um, learned that not only are we called to serve one another, but that's where you'll see God personally.

So, that was part of my history before I came into the Church.

And then when I learn, um, the Church teaching on this, it all, it all came together.

It all made sense.

So, it's like my experience matched with what the Church has always taught.

I didn't have this piece.

I had the lived experience, um, and so it was a coming, a beautiful coming together, um, for me with serving, um, others in pain and suffering.

I teach my children that charity starts at home.

And a large part of love of neighbor in our household is the person sleeping in the bed next to you.

Um, my children, um, have the opportunity daily to practice the corporal works of mercy.

Having so many young children in my home, my older kids regularly get the opportunity to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked.

Um, and as a mother, um, who stays at home with her children, I have an hour by hour opportunity to also practice the corporal works of mercy and to love my neighbor, love my children, um, in that way.

And additionally, we, we do try to, um, to take that outside of our home.

So, uh, we had a neighbor who, um, severe arthritis and lived with her children, and her children went out of town, and she could not make dinner for herself.

She could be by herself during the day, but she couldn't make dinner for herself.

So, we would make dinner for her and go over and visit with her, spend some time with her, um, and, and, um, talk to her and practice the corporal works of mercy in, in that way as well.