Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our first
reading, we continue to listen to St. Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. Earlier
in the week we heard St. Paul tell the Ephesians, from chapter 2, that we have
been brought to life in Christ, and that by grace we have been saved. This
grace from God is a gift for us to grow ever closer to Jesus Christ. We are not
to boast in our own works, but in the salvation that we have received from
Christ.
Then on
Wednesday, Paul goes on to tell us that God’s grace was given to us for our
benefit. Further, Paul teaches us that this grace is not only for the Jewish
people, but ALL people, including the Gentiles. Everyone, Jews and Gentiles,
are co-airs to God’s grace. We are all chosen by God to live in relationship
with Him and to gain salvation. Then yesterday, in chapter 3 from Ephesians, we
hear of the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding.
Today Paul is
reminding us that we are called to always live in a way that’s pleasing to God.
With humility and gentleness, with patience, and bearing with one another
through love. This exemplifies the teachings of the Lord that we are to love
not only God with our whole minds and hearts, but we are to love one another as
we love God and ourselves. This is the challenge of being a follower of Jesus
Christ. It’s not always easy to love other people that may be difficult to get
along with. But that is what the Lord is calling us to do. We are not to be a
Christian in name only, but in action.
In a familiar
hymn that all should know, it says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our
love.” Can people recognize that we are Christians by how we love and respect
those around us? As challenging as it may be, we are called to bear with one
another through love. We are to show the love and respect towards those in our
lives that we would show to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us pray
for the gift of patience and gentleness that Paul talks about in today’s letter
to the Ephesians that we may not only love God who we can’t see, but to also
love and respect those people in our lives that we can see. “They’ll know we
are Christians by our love.”
From Arlene B. Muller:
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL reflection on St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Deacon Tom!
YES, we are to love GOD above all & to love others as we love ourselves. When I think about seeing & loving CHRIST in others I am reminded of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta & how she saw & loved CHRIST in "the poorest of the poor", some of whom were probably very distasteful & not easy to love by human strength alone. She was given the grace to do this most likely because of her hours of love & prayer in Eucharistic Adoration: loving & seeing CHRIST in His Real Eucharistic Presence helped her to see Him in the poor.
My Mom was very easy to love & not a difficult person at all, but my experience of being her part-time caregiver was my first taste of learning to love sacrificially, since I am a happily celibate single person by choice & have avoided having to make the sacrifices that a married person has to do daily for his/her spouse and children throughout his/her life.
I found that as I took care of Mom there was a beautiful mutual exchange of the love of CHRIST: I was seeing & loving CHRIST in Mom & she was experiencing the love of CHRIST in & through me. There were definitely times when I felt that JESUS CHRIST was loving Mom through me beyond my human imperfection. I guess this was a taste of what St. Paul meant when be wrote "It is not I who live but CHRIST Who lives in me." I don't recall any other experience of this, & Mom was a very loving & lovable person, but the grace of GOD allowed me to let HIM love Mom through me & I was cooperating with His grace.
Doing good works for people is the easy part, even if it's for difficult people. Bearing with difficult people who get on our nerves with patience & understanding is the hard part that requires GOD'S grace. Maybe that is when we need to ask the LORD to love that person through us & allow us to let His love flow in a way that is less our own imperfect human efforts but more our simply being His instrument or channel of His love & peace.