Learning to Love More

~~~ 2 Timothy 2:8-15 ~~~ Psalm 25 ~~~ Mark 12:28-34 ~~~

Teach me your ways, O Lord.

If we are to learn to love God
the way he truly deserves
we must look to him for instruction.

Jesus loves us completely...unconditionally.

Loving God includes being so convicted
 that we do not hesitate to acknowledge him in our life.

Loving God includes freely speaking his name.
Loving God includes putting his will above our selfish wants.

Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Be proud to proclaim your love of God.
Loving God first results in greater love for others.

The golden rule is applicable because God loved us first.
If we do not have the love in our heart from God;
it is not possible for us to love others.

Loving God and neighbor is worth more
than anything else we would consider.

When it comes to loving God and neighbor
 there is no need to be creative.

Love is pure when it begins
 with the source of all love...God.

The closer we are to God the faster
 we will learn how to love better.

The love God has for us
does not pick and choose.

The love God has for us
does not have boundaries.

The love God has for us
actually does not have conditions.

Teach me your ways, O Lord.

The more frequently we can practice
and extend unconditional love the closer
we are to the Kingdom of God...that is heaven.

If there is any 'ticket' to enter into heaven
 it is Love.

Jesus is the best teacher
 when it comes to learning to love.

We can all improve our ability to love.
We are Blessed to have the best teacher of love...Jesus.
Practice more love.

~~~Peace~~~

Kick it up a Notch: Love Your Enemies

~~~ Deuteronomy 26: 16-19 ~~~ Psalm 119 ~~~ Matthew 5: 43-48 ~~~

"So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

We are hearing another version of the Golden Rule. Only this time it is not good enough to simply love your neighbor, because your neighbor is more likely than not to be like you. Many sermons have been delivered on this topic. It is easier many times to love those who are most like you. In fact we tend to choose our friends based on what we have in common. You may share the same interests, hobbies, religious beliefs, political beliefs, similar careers; the list could go on.

If you want to have God as your best friend then you must 'walk in his ways' and 'hearken to his voice'. If we are the sheep and Jesus is the Shepherd then we will surround him and we will respond to the sound of his voice. In this way he will know and we will know that we are 'pecularily his own'. For if we are his own we will desire to be perfect. For if we walk with the Lord we will be a 'sacred' people.

Matthew gives us a little play book of queues to help us.

love your enemies

pray for those who persecute you

That's all? Just those couple things...should not be too difficult. My writing them and your reading them might not be difficult, but putting them into practice consistently; well that might not be so simple.

Jesus is the primary figure who has accomplished this depth of love. Jesus was often interacting with those whom we would find hard to love. Mother Teresa is one of our contemporary examples of this quality of love. She spent most of her life caring for the forgotten ones.

I think about that today. Who do I find the most difficult to love? I can think of a couple times in my life when I was able, with the Grace of God, to accomplish loving someone who had wronged me. At least in my eyes I was wronged. I decided that somehow I had to rise above my perception in order to have a life worth living. It was a challenge. It was not easy.

"So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

 I think perhaps this is about forgiveness. If we must love our enemies we must first forgive them. This of course does not require that you like them. Love and Like are not interchangeable. They do not carry equal weight. Love far out weighs like.

If we must pray for those who wrong us. How can you do that without also forgiving them? Jesus even forgave those who nailed him to the cross. The Amish parents forgave the man who killed their daughters. They even reached out to his family.

"So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

I am not sure I can ever live up to that command, but I can always keep trying. Each new day gives me another opportunity to strive closer to the heavenly Father's perfection. I think making the effort counts in the eyes of God. Don't you?

Our crucified Lord is of course our best example of the Father's perfect love.
It is through this perfect love that we are saved.

I hope you will keep this scripture of love close to your heart especially when you are challenged to love someone persecuting you.

The Days of Our Lives

~~~ Esther C: 12, 1-16, 23-25 ~~~ Psalm 138 ~~~ Matt. 7: 7-12 ~~~

Today's readings are very explicit in their combined message. First we hear from the book of Esther, which is rarely used in the Mass.

This short excerpt from Esther speaks volumes about how we are to approach prayer. She is a queen and yet she removes her royal clothing, her crown, and her jewels. She summons her handmaids to besiege God with her prayers. She realizes that in spite of all the worldly, earthly riches and wealth she has acquired;

 she is ultimately dependent on God.

"Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,

for I am taking my life in my hand."

She and her attendants prostrate themselves face down on the ground from 'morning until evening.' In this position she allows herself to become totally vulnerable to outside forces. She cannot see anything but the ground before her.

Part of her prayer is asking for wisdom, 'Put in my mouth persuasive words...', she prays. She has come to accept that she can only rely on God to help her. She has read the sacred texts, she knows the stories, she acknowledges who she is turning to for intercession.

When we turn to God in prayer we must come in our stripped vulnerable state. There is no reason to try and pretend with God that you are someone other than who you are in your most weakened state. God does not need to hear your excuses for this or that. He wants you to turn to him in ultimate surrender...prostrated before him...in total dependence on him.

God wants us to sing with the psalmist, '...I called for help, you answered me.' He alone can save us. He alone can answer our prayers.

This message of God answering our prayers is further emphasized in Matthew's gospel through the often quoted words of Jesus.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

Jesus felt so strongly about this message getting through to us that he states it once simply and in the next sentence he elaborates on its meaning. God wants us to trust him completely with the days of our lives.

The gospel test ends with the greatest commandment of all,

" Do to others, whatever you would have them do to you."

I must ask myself, "If I want God to answer my prayers. What is my responsibility in this relationship? Is it only that I lay prostrate and surrender my all to him or is there something more? If I am honest with myself I must accept that there is more. The more is contained in how I treat others. The good ole Golden Rule will always keep you grounded before God.   

God always answers prayers; just not always in the way we had expected.

Sometimes the answer is disguised camoflaged hidden from our sight,

but always there is a response.