Archbishop to families: stop climbing, start descending in Love

By Klysha Best

In a culture that celebrates upward mobility, like bigger houses, better cars, more status, Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon offered a countercultural message to families gathered at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday, May 30.

“True love will always come down,” he declared during the annual ‘Mass for Families’ hosted by the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (AFLC).

Drawing from the Book of Exodus, the Archbishop reminded the congregation that after Israel broke its covenant with God through idolatry, the Lord did not abandon them. Instead, He revealed Himself as “the Lord, a God of mercy and tenderness who forgives thousands of generations.”

Mercy, he said, “is what a lover does when the beloved messes up.”

Archbishop Gordon turned to the theology of St John Paul II, explaining that the Trinity is the perfect paradigm of love: the Father gives everything to the Son, the Son to the Spirit, the Spirit to the Father and to us. None of the three holds anything back.

“What does family and Trinity have in common? Self donation. Giving yourself away.” But he warned that modern society, fuelled by social media and a hunger for prestige, has taught people to climb, not to descend. “The whole architecture of our life is up, up, up. We want a better house, a better car, more money, more status.”

Yet when God sees a mess, the Archbishop said, “God comes down.” When our loved ones fail us, we often go up on our high horse. “True love will always come down.” The Archbishop urged husbands and wives to “give way to one another in the Lord”, not as a battle of egos, but as a mutual emptying before God.

“It’s not me giving way to you or you giving way to me. It’s you and me together giving way to the Lord.”

He invited families to examine their hearts for lingering resentments. “Think of the things in your family where you have found it difficult to forget. Areas where you have held on to things long after they should have been let go.”

At the close of the homily, Archbishop Gordon led a quiet prayer of release. He asked spouses to hold hands and pray for one another, children to forgive their parents, and parents to let go of hurts caused by their children.

“Tonight, let us not leave here with any form of resentment in our hearts. Let us let it go right now. Let us release it right now.”

He reminded the congregation that God’s love is unconditional: “The price paid for your freedom is the precious Blood of Jesus Christ. He wants to forgive you. He wants you to receive the grace today to come down and to forgive.”

The Archbishop concluded with a call for every home to become a “school of love,” where mercy flows freely and the family reflects the very heart of the Trinity, a love that always descends.