Gospel-Homily for Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2026)

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I walked into a Sears store because they had something I wanted, and I had something they wanted. When I told the salesman that I was looking for a snow blower, and not a pair of black socks, he got excited.  He exclaimed, “We are having our end-of-season sale, so our best model is twenty percent off. Not only is it on sale, but it has a five-year warranty. We will come to your house to fix it if it needs repairs or parts. And it even has a push-button start. You do not have to pull a cord. I replied, “I’ll buy it.” We walked together to the counter to finalize the sale. On the way, he made a funny comment about customers buying snow blowers out of season, and I laughed. And I told him about trying to buy a snow blower at Home Depot, and he chuckled. Yes, I liked this guy because he gave me a sale, a warranty, and a good snow blower. He liked me because I was an easy sell. We shook hands. I even got a back-pat at the end as I walked away. But that is not love; it’s called it shopping. 

When God looks down and sees that I do something nice to you and you do something nice to me. God does not call that love. He calls it shopping. So, what is love? It is power. It is the ability to do something you were never able to before because you are united with someone. Let me explain. The bible describes marriage as two becoming one. They are no longer two but one. That means if you are married, you have brains, two sets of eyes, four arms, and four legs. That are able to do things they were never able to do before. When I am truly united with God. I have my brain, and I have God’s brain. There is no limit to what I can know and do. When you are united with someone, your generosity doubles because you have four giving hands.

Here is the faith lesson. We encounter storms of life, setbacks, disappointments, sadness, discouragement, and hard times. But when we use the power we get from being united with God or a neighbor to get through those hard times, that is not shopping. That is love.