Be Rewarded with the Peace of God

Piety

Dear tender and caring God, I long to find your peace. I long to be loved by you, the one who can most fill my heart. Let me find rest in you during the hectic pace of my day. Let me not set my sight on distracting goals such as new belongings or advancement. Rather, let me hope in you both now and forever. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/110606.shtml

Love one another. Time and time again, Jesus’ message comes through in various stories, examples, answers to doubters and to those who challenge Him.

The psalm today gives us a beautiful image: a comforted, quiet child, cuddling quietly on her father’s or mother’s lap. How we love sitting thus with our own little – or not so little – ones as they settle in for the night or rest after a tumble from a bike. And truth be told, occasionally I’ve longed for a lap to rest in, arms warmly around me after a traumatizing experience during my day.

This image also calls forth the stillness of listening – listening for the heart of God as John, the Beloved disciple, is known for. What do we find while listening in stillness to the heart of God? Love. Unconditional, free, abundant love.

Paul tells the Philippians that “if there is any solace in love…” (Ph 2:1) they should resist language and behavior that disrupts the loving unity Jesus bestowed upon His people. …"complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.” (Phil 2:2) There is more than harmony in unity through Christ, there is joy.

Jesus takes us one step further. Invite in and love those you don’t know – stranger and other. Hold a banquet for them! “…blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” (Luke 14:14) Your reward for this unity, this generosity, is God’s reward. How hard this is for us. Our learned behavior tells us the “other” is dangerous, suspect, out-to-get-me-or-mine. This is not the intellect and emotions with which God gifted us at creation. It is our learned behaviors – like those of the Pharisees and Sadducees - which Jesus railed against.

How do we move beyond these learned, divisive thoughts, feelings and actions? Listen, in stillness, for the heartbeat of God. Listen for God’s love. Let it sink into us like the comfort a parent gives her/his child. Let that love permeate our own hearts and soften them and “humbly regard others as more important than yourselves”. (Phil 2:3)

Experience freedom from the tyranny of regarding Yourself! and Others as less than beloved children of God.

Action

Stop and feel your pulse. Your pulse mirrors that of the pulse of God’s own Son, Jesus. For 10 minutes, 15 minutes, feel His presence with you, rest yourself against Him. Listen for His heartbeat, His spirit moving through you with accepting, profuse love. Now open your eyes and move through the “banquet” of your workday treating the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind as your honored guests.


DeColores
Beth DeCristofaro