We are living in a time of: taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider highways but narrower viewpoints; higher incomes, but lower morals; more knowledge, but less wisdom; fancier houses, but broken homes.

We have: Conquered outer space, but not inner-space; learned to make a living, but not a life; add years to our life, but not life to our years.

We: Spend too recklessly, drive too fast, laugh too little, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired; read too little, watch T.V too much, pray too seldom.

While all of these things are not be true of everyone, certainly some of them are true of all of us. We all have areas in our lives where some adjustments need to be made if we want to have our lives more in tune with what Jesus asks of us as His disciples, if we want to be more Christlike on a daily basis. In the Gospel passage today, Jesus instructs His disciples and then having prepared them, He sends them out with authority and power to proclaim the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near, that God is in their midst.. Jesus ends His instructions to the disciples saying: "You received without payment; give without payment." (Matt. 10:8) All of us have indeed received much from God and from Jesus, His Divine Son. Therefore, in appreciation to God for His many gifts to us, we are called to love one another and serve one another as Jesus Himself did while living on this earth.

Several years ago a book was published entitled: "Looking Out For Number One." In it the author strongly argued against generosity. For example, he wrote that if you "make the other person’s happiness your first responsibility, you pervert the laws of nature", and also he wrote "unless someone is poor because you robbed him, no downtrodden individual is your responsibility." Now that does not sound like something Jesus would agree with, does it? This kind of book and its message is in fact perverting the law of God, the law of Love, and yet when it came out, this book was a leading bestseller in North America. Doesn’t that says a lot about the moral values our society holds and practices these days. Now in contrast to that teaching, Jesus says that we are, in fact, to be our brother’s keeper, and that our number one priority should be not to satisfy our own greed, and our own selfishness, but rather we are to satisfy our brothers and sisters needs wherever and whenever we can. Like the apostles sent out by Jesus, we are to be Christlike and bring His love and compassion to others, bring His healing and life to those we meet. "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment" Jesus says. We can do those things only if we are acting in His name and with His love.

A man once complained to his pastor about the Church always asking for money. He said: "It is upsetting to me - this business of Christianity is just one continuous give, give, give." To which his pastor replied: "I want to thank you for the gift of one of the finest definitions of Christianity I have ever heard". Yes we are to give. We are to be Christlike. Just as Jesus entire life on this earth was a life of self- giving, of selflessness, of concern and a willingness to help other persons, so we too must put ourselves at the service of others. "I give you a new commandment" Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you." (Jn.13:34) Notice that we are not just to love one another, but to love others in a special way, that is, just as Jesus has loved us. He had compassion for the crowds "because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd", we heard in today’s Gospel passage. In other words, we are to be Christlike, whether it be at home or at work or at school, or at play. Wherever we are we are to be Christlike and try to see others and treat others as Jesus sees them and treats them. To be Christlike means that we are to show others that we are with them in their need, that we have compassion for their suffering and pain, because God is with them in their time of need, and has compassion for them. It means that we seek to love them because God loves them. To be Christlike in our attitudes and actions towards others is to be a living sign of God’s Gift of His Divine Son to the world. The amazing thing that often happens, when we are willing to give ourselves to others in love, is that we always benefit as well. Giving to others often means that we receive more than we give away, because God is never outdone in generosity. To freely and generously give to others helps us to discover that our own lives are being enriched and are satisfying.

Of course, we all have a certain amount of self-interest built into our human nature, and that isn’t all bad. For example, one of the reasons we are here at Mass today is probably a selfish one, namely, that we want to improve our lives, and we want to grow in our faith, hope and love for God and for others. However, we must avoid the temptation to be overly concerned about ourselves, we must avoid the danger of becoming so self-centered that we ignore others, and turn a blind eye to their needs.. In the classic novel: "The Diary of a Country Priest", the author (George Beranos) writes: "Hell is not to love anymore." To be so wrapped up in self, to live in a world of our own, is to experience a little of what hell is like. Only when we open ourselves to others in love are we able to experience within ourselves the love of God, and only then can we have real peace and happiness in our hearts. It is my prayer today that as we celebrate this sacred liturgy with Jesus, we will allow Him, Who is our Lord and Master, to have full reign in our hearts and help us use our time, our talents, and our gifts as He wants for the glory of God and in the service of others. The American Paul Bunyan once wrote: "A man there was and they called him mad; the more he gave the more he had." Love is like a never-ending river passing through our lives. The more we give our love to others, the more love we will receive from God, Who the Source of all true love. That is why in his letter to the Corinthians Paul could say to them and to us: "Love does not come to an end." (1Cor 12)