Love One Another

May 11, 2012

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

By Melanie Rigney

And so (Judas and Silas) were sent on their journey. Upon their arrival in Antioch they called the assembly together and delivered the letter (from the apostles and presbyters about limiting the number of Church mandates). When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.  (Acts 15:30-31)

Awake, O my soul; awake, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn. (Psalms 57:9)

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” (John 15:16-17)

PIETY

Lord, I am humbled by the people You put in my life, the ones who show me by example how to walk with You as well as the ones to whom You ask that I be an example of Your love.

STUDY

Mimi, this one’s for you.

Most of you who read Your Daily Tripod have the great privilege of knowing Mimi Fitzgerald, the vibrant lay director emeritus of Arlington Cursillo, past president of the St. Charles Borromeo Parish Council, hostess extraordinaire, masterful gardener, mother of eight and grandmother to many, and possibly the even-tempered, positive-natured person I’ve ever met.

On the day I wrote this, I’d seen Mimi for the first time since she’d fallen and broken her pelvis about a week earlier. Despite having been on bed rest for that week and several more to come, she laughed and talked with a group of us about the benefits of her usually busy life being slowed down: She’s been watching the Nationals baseball games (and they actually won one). She’s been viewing movies with her grandkids. She’s been enjoying visiting with the bevy of friends who have brought her dinner. No pity party allowed, and I doubt she’s thrown much of one even when she’s alone.

Mimi’s one of those people to whom Jesus’s exhortation in today’s Gospel to love one another seems to comes naturally. It doesn’t mean she always agrees with them or their choices or their behavior. It just means she loves them.

As I read today’s first reading, I thought about how much easier it is to get this journey when we have good people to accompany us and show us the way and love us. Mimi was the first person I thought of. In the six years I’ve known her, she’s put me into some incredibly difficult situations (including three years on Parish Council starting just weeks after I’d returned to the Church after being away for more than thirty years, and a Cursillo leadership role that I haven’t always handled well). She’s also been there for some of my most faith-stirring moments and talked me off the spiritual ledge a couple of times.

Some think Mimi can do no wrong. I’m not one of those people. Our approaches to problem solving are polar opposites. She’d tell you the same thing. In fact, she’d also be the first person to tell you she’s not perfect, and that canonizing a friend is not a good idea for either of you. It prevents a true, honest, healthy, loving relationship from budding and flowering.

So Mimi, this one’s for you, full of thanks for all the seeds you’ve planted and for the fruit your labors have borne and will continue to bear long after you’re gone. Thanks for being a shining example of the second greatest commandment.

ACTION

Write a letter of personal thanks to someone who shows you how to love others.