The test of worship is how far it makes us more sensitive to the “beyond in our midst,” to the Christ in the hungry, the naked, the homeless, and the prisoner. Only if we are more likely to recognize him there after attending an act of worship is that worship Christian rather than a piece of religiosity in Christian dress.
- John A. T. Robinson (1919-1983), Honest to God
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COL 3:12-17; PS 150:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6
LK 6:27-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
"To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.
"Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you."
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.
Reflection on the Scriptures |
Jesus asks us to stop thinking of our daily interactions as business exchanges and start acting out of love. He asks us to stop judging, condemning, holding grudges, and holding back generosity not as a quid-pro-quo, but because we are beloved of God. A quote often attributed to Mother Theresa says, “In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them
anyway.” If we realize God’s love for us in an all-encompassing way, we won’t need to exchange our kindness for others’. We will be free live generously, as those who have received love well. Love received spills over, and lovers are generous to those beloved.
- by Molly Mattingly
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 63
“As verily as sin is unclean, so verily is it unkind”—a disease or monstrous thing against nature. “He shall heal us full fair.”
Thus in [our] Very Mother, Jesus, our life is grounded in the foreseeing Wisdom of Himself from without beginning, with the high Might of the Father, the high sovereign Goodness of the Holy Ghost. And in the taking of our nature He quickened us; in His blessed dying upon the Cross He bare us to endless life; and from that time, and now, and evermore unto Doomsday, He feedeth us and furthereth us: even as that
high sovereign Kindness of Motherhood, and as Kindly need of Childhood asketh.
Fair and sweet is our Heavenly Mother in the sight of our souls; precious and lovely are the Gracious Children in the sight of our Heavenly Mother, with mildness and meekness, and all the fair virtues that belong to children in Nature. For of nature the Child despaireth not of the Mother’s love, of nature the Child presumeth not of itself, of nature the Child loveth the Mother and each one of the other
[children]. These are the fair virtues, with all other that be like, wherewith our Heavenly Mother is served and pleased.
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