Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I assume you’ve heard by now that Chicago-born, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, is now Pope Leo XIV. As an American, that delights me. Just imagine, someone who pulls for the White Sox and knows the Pledge of Allegiance, is speaking on the world stage and leading 1.4 billion Christians. Exciting times!
But I am even more thrilled that his maternal grandparents are from New Orleans. Look out, citizens of Rome! Expect things to be different. Maybe a few more parades? Don’t be surprised if the local soccer team is renamed the “Saints.” And you can start looking for authentic Shrimp Creole on menus throughout Vatican City. Emphasis on the “creole,” because according to a genealogist from the Historic New Orleans Collection, Pope Leo is descended from Creole people of color.
Marriage records show that Pope Leo’s maternal grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, were married at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart—a church in the city’s Seventh Ward, an area that is traditionally Catholic and a melting pot of people with African, Caribbean and European roots. As the genealogist who made the discovery noted, “This … is just an additional reminder of how interwoven we are as Americans. I hope that it will highlight the long history of Black Catholics, both free and enslaved, in this country, which includes the Holy Father’s family.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/us/pope-leo-creole-new-orleans.html)
I hope it will also highlight how interwoven we are as human beings! As we sing in one of our favorite hymns, “In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north. Just one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.” No one is beyond the reach of God’s love in Christ Jesus. Peter learned this from that heavenly vision we read about in our reading from Acts: “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” It took three times for it to sink in….and then he’s still talking with incredulity and facing criticism in Jerusalem: “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” his fellow disciples ask.
In fairness to those early Christians, their concern was based on custom, not bigotry. Table fellowship with gentiles was unthinkable, so, just like Peter, they needed some time to adjust. They too needed to hear that the Spirit instructed Peter, “do not to make distinctions between them and us.” (Acts 11: 12) It helped them to know that “the Holy Spirit fell upon [the Gentiles] just as it had upon [the disciples] at the beginning.” (Acts 11:15) No distinctions between them and us; in Christ there is no us and them…only us.
Today’s readings remind us once more of God’s mission in Christ to reconcile all things, to bring all people together into this one great fellowship of love. As we approach the conclusion of the canon of Scripture in the penultimate chapter of the Revelation to John, these purposes are declared again: “See, I am making all things new.” (21:5) This vision of the new Jerusalem, with God dwelling with his peoples, wiping every tear from all eyes, where everyone who is thirsty receives the gift from the spring of the water of life, is dramatically different from the meritocracy and tribalism we’re accustomed to. No wonder we continue to struggle to love without limits. We continue the very human practice of restricting access to those we deem worthy and prioritizing those who look like us. Assuming a mindset of scarcity, we ration God’s love and mercy. Forgetting that the Love of God is not diminished, but rather multiplied by giving it away, we hoard it for ourselves and limit it to our loved ones.
But don’t let the Pope catch you thinking like that! In what could be a foreshadowing of American-born theological wrangling on the world stage, both Pope Francis and then-Cardinal Prevost challenged Vice President J.D. Vance when he tried justifying mass deportations by misusing the theological concept of “ordo amoris.” Vice President Vance told Fox News: “You love your family, then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.” (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/19/us/trump-news?searchResultPosition=10#vance-whose-views-have-clashed-with-the-popes-spends-holy-week-in-rome)
Cardinal Prevost was more direct. He reposted a link to an article headlined: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.” (https://apnews.com/article/pope-leo-twitter-x-trump-vance-criticism-9c311123985ebce282877071f75b6d80)
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, in the experience of Peter’s vision, in the coming of the heavenly Jerusalem, and in the new commandment Jesus gives at the Last Supper, this Love of God is offered for all. As we say in the south, all means y’all. Or, in the deep south, all means all y’all!
So, if or when we catch ourselves setting limits on who we love…
or postponing access to who receives justice….
or restricting avenues to whom we show compassion….
It’s time to ask: Are we operating out of fear of the other, or love of the other? Are we seeking self-interest, or the welfare of all? Do we trust in the abundance and power of Love…or are we succumbing again to the love of power?
There’s a lot riding on us getting this right. Jesus says that the world will know who we follow by the love we show for one another. Episcopal priest and author, Stephanie Spellers, encourages us to be a blessing by “Giving Our Lives Away in Love.” She describes what that looks like: “People and communities of blessing choose generosity over domination, celebration over humiliation, mutuality over chauvinism…We resist the urge to build up and hoard power, possession, and privilege, because – as Jesus showed us – real love gives itself away as bold, generous blessing to others.” (The Church Cracked Open, p 127)
How do we keep Jesus’ commandment to love one another as he has loved us—without limits or conditions? Spellers suggests the following practices. Listen for the ones that the Spirit may be calling you to try this week:
- LOVE the face and voice of God in others.
- CELEBRATE the cultures, gifts, and lives of rejected groups
- CARE and carry each other’s burdens
- EMBRACE uncomfortable spaces and experiences
- SURRENDER overcontrolling behaviors
- RISK making the first move, sharing your own stories, and being wrong
- LISTEN with love to the stories of people who do not share your privilege
- SACRIFICE possessions and resources for the sake of love
- SHARE access to privileged spaces and relationships
(Ibid, p 128)
By loving without limits and without fear, we give our lives away in love. We choose generosity over domination, celebration over humiliation, mutuality over chauvinism. We love one another as Christ loves us. By this everyone will know who we follow, and they’ll see that there is no us and them, just one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide world.
