Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk

Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting can be useless if they are practiced for the wrong reason. God doesn’t hear prayer that is addressed to making us look good.

Most of our failures in loving our neighbor involve petty spats, little acts of selfishness, deliberately remembered slights. God calls us to rise above that and love as he does, because he is generous.

Doing violence to others solves nothing even when the violence is in response to injustice. All that makes real sense in dealing with others is generosity and forgiveness.

God sent the prophet Elijah an associate in the person of Elisha. God calls all of us in various ways to offer support to one another in God’s work.

Jesus talks about the importance of being on good terms with our neighbor. Any antipathy to our neighbor is a capital offense. Love for our neighbor sometimes can even take precedence over the defense of our own rights.

The purpose of the law and the prophets was to foster and deepen our relationship with God. Jesus and his teaching bring the law and the prophets to a whole new level of meaning and intensity.