Glory to you, O Christ,
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
1 JOHN 4:11-18
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
We have a tendency to name every frivolous and fleeting emotion love, when in truth, as the writer tells us, we cannot know love if we do not know the God of love.
In his epistles, the disciple who leaned on Your breast leaves us a timeless exposition of God's incarnate love made visible and tangible in You. He knew You, lived with You and witnessed firsthand the power of God's love in You for You are God.
Even though no one has seen God, we need only to contemplate Your crucifixion to know the extent of God's love for us and the only way to live in the love of God and to have Him live in us is to love those around us. The people we encounter every day in our families, in our neighborhood, in our country, in the world.
We could never love selflessly on our own strength and this is why You have given us Your Holy Spirit who is the bond of love between You and the Father. It is this Spirit that draws us into the Trinitarian love.
The Father sent You, His Son, into the world to redeem it and God abides in all who acknowledge this truth. Authentic love is salvific, it is redeeming, it is selfless, it seeks nothing for itself only the good of the other, it is an act of will, an act of courage, it never ceases because God is love and God is eternal.
Anyone afraid to love as God does will never know love. Perfect love does not count the cost, does not bargain, does not compromise, is fearless. Perfect Love has a Name - Jesus. If we wish to become like You, we must love each other as You love us.
PSALM 72:1-2,10-13
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
The psalmist's prayer for a righteous and just judge has been answered, God has given us the Son of Justice. He has given us a King, and He has appointed You as judge to the nations
A day will dawn when every ruler in every nation will prostrate before You, pay homage to You, and acknowledge You as the only true King and Lord. The world will serve You alone and will acknowledge no other power but Yours alone.
The poor, the helpless, the weak, the defenseless, the marginalized, the voiceless, those crushed by the evil of the powerful who use their influence and wealth to render them invisible, will find in You a powerful Friend. Anyone who has caused one of Your little ones to sigh will have to give a scrupulous account of their evil deeds and receive judgment. They will pay to the last penny.
MARK 6:45-52
My Soul's Beloved,
After the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, the disciples were filled with awe. You made them get into the boat and go on ahead of You while You took leave of the crowd and went on Your own to the hills to pray.
Prayer is our lifeline to God. This is what You teach us over and over again. All the good we do comes from God and we need to be constantly aware that without You we can do nothing. This is why we need to pray without ceasing. We need to get away from the noise, the crowd, we need to go into our room, enter the sanctuary of our soul, and spend time alone with You.
Mark says that You stood alone on the land watching the disciples who were far out on the lake. You knew they were exhausted from rowing against the strong wind. It was the fourth watch of the night, which is between 3 and 6 in the morning when they saw You walking on the water seemingly passing by them. All thought of the miracle they had witnessed earlier fled from their mind all they were aware of now was that they were wet, tired, miserable, and thinking You were a ghost they cried out in terror. Immediately You spoke and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’
As soon as You got into the boat with them the wind dropped, the lake was calm and the disciples were utterly and completely dumbfounded because as Mark says, they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.
Too often we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by difficult situations losing sight of You and Your everlasting covenantal love with us. When we do You show us tender compassion and mercy, You reach out to us and say, 'Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.'
No comments:
Post a Comment