Daily Thoughts: “Love seeks one
thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary
effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”
(Thomas Merton)
Perhaps this is what Jesus is getting at
as he answers the scholar of the law in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22: 34-40). Love
sits at the heart of any relationship, of any friendship. The first mark of a
good relationship, a good friendship, is benevolence. Benevolence is actively,
seeking and finding the good in another.
In the first reading from the Book of
Exodus (Exodus 22:20-26) God reminds the Israelites that they are to care
people not like themselves. They are to care for immigrants, aliens. They are
to care for windows and orphans, those less fortunate than themselves. Because –
we have all been immigrants and aliens at one point in our family history; we
all have the potential of struggling and needing assistance. Care, concern,
mercy and compassion are the hallmarks of a friend of God.
We find ourselves in the midst of a great
debate these days about immigrants and those who are poor. Pope Francis
constantly challenges us to care for these people with compassion,
understanding and love. In our first reading today God challenges not just the
Israelites but us to care for the aliens, the immigrants, the poor!
In the Gospel Jesus reminds us that we
are to love God and love others and also love ourselves. In order to do this we
must find the good in God, others and ourselves. We must desire good for God,
others and ourselves. As Merton says if we can do this the gift of love will be
our reward!
We see the effects of lack of love every
day in our culture, our society and even our church. Lack of love started with
the inability to find God’s love within ourselves and this inability produces
violence, suffering, injustice, selfishness, self-centeredness and
judgmentalness. The lack of love creates divisions, alienates and isolates
people.
The power of God’s word challenges us to
be loving people today not just to those we like or those we find easy to love
but we are asked to extend the embrace of love to all, including ourselves. If
we can find the love that God has created within us then it is much easier to
look beyond ourselves to love God and others!
Have a great Sunday everyone and may the
peace of Christ’s passionate love be with you today and always!
Daily Prayer:
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
(Suscipe
– St. Ignatius of Loyola)
A Runner’s Thoughts: Here are some words
to ponder and perhaps even live by from Paul Maurer’s book, The Gift – A Runner’s Story. “Running isn't a sport for pretty boys...It's
about the sweat in your hair and the blisters on your feet. It’s the frozen
spit on your chin and the nausea in your gut. It's about throbbing calves and
cramps at midnight that are strong enough to wake the dead. It's about getting
out the door and running when the rest of the world is only dreaming about
having the passion that you need to live each and every day with. It's about
being on a lonely road and running like a champion even when there's not a
single soul in sight to cheer you on. Running is all about having the desire to
train and persevere until every fiber in your legs, mind, and heart is turned
to steel. And when you've finally forged hard enough, you will have become the
best runner you can be. And that's all that you can ask for.” And this is what faith is about too!
Sunday Blessing: Wherever you
are, whatever this day has brought into your life, if you are watching your favorite team,
celebrating your team’s victory, or mourning and debating its defeat or just
anticipating the work week and the busyness of that lies ahead. It you are
resting and relaxing or busy about many different things, if you are taking
time to enjoy the beauty of this day or struggling through a problem, no matter
where you are or what you are doing I offer this prayer and blessing for you...
This is the Day that God has made let us
rejoice and be glad. May there always be work for us to do. May our pockets and purses always hold a coin
or two. May the sun always shine warm on our windowpanes. May a rainbow be
certain to follow each rain. May the hand of family, a loved one and a friend
always be near and may God fill our hearts with gladness and love that we in
turn can share! May God’s blessing be upon us all today and always. Peace in
Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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