Piety
Let us pray. God, you made us all and you love us all. You love us when we are arguing, when we are selfish, when we push others aside, when we pass on the right side of that slow car on the Beltway, when we are greedy and when we are lazy. Your very love pushes us to change…to grow.
To get us to change, you not only give us your love, you give us your Son and the Holy Spirit to be with us on our journey. You love us even when we don’t pay attention to their message and when we wander away from your commandments.
Lord, you ask us to love you back and that’s hard because we can’t see you. You are not here to touch. We can’t play catch with you. We can’t play “dress-up” with you. We go to the gym or on a jog with you. So, like the good friend that you are, you give us the world and each other so that we can love you back through them. Thank you for making us your friends. Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/052106.shtml
God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightlyis acceptable to him. Acts 10 (34-35)
In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the worldso that we might have life through him. 1 John 4:9
You are my friends if you do what I command you. John 15:14
Today is not a day with scriptures that are filled with pithy little sayings from the Hebrew Bible and the Good News. Today, we are confronted with the challenges of Christ in triplicate.
Love is for all. Especially the poor but it is not withheld from the rich. All are held to the ideals of Jesus: To love and to avoid sin because it would harm our friendship with Jesus.
Love is shared. It testifies to the nature of God in our lives. First, God shares love with us in our creation and the blessings of our life. Then, God freely gives to us Jesus in friendship to dwell with us and forgive our sins. Finally, God sends the Holy Spirit of truth to guide us with a basketful of gifts. For all this grace and more, we are asked to share love – back to God and back to God’s creations. Only in the sharing can we attain life.
Love is not abstract. Jesus invites us every day to a banquet served in His honor so he can be with us as a friend and we can be with him as a friend. But this is not just a cup of coffee at Starbucks friendship. At the end of our Liturgy, we hear that we are to go in peace to love and serve the world. There are many tangible ways to do that as we move forward in piety, in learning more about our friends Jesus and in active love to help others.
Action
Jesus’ commandment is that His disciples love one another, even to the point of laying down their lives, if necessary. What gifts — your skills and talents, your time and resources — will best demonstrate your love for God’s people this week?
What do you need to lay down that gets in the way of you love of God and your service to God’s people this week?
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