Hope in eternal love starting now

Listen for the Love message

The letter of Paul to the Philippians in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary is full of the love which the Apostle to the Gentiles has toward these people. Friar Jude Winkler comments that in this authentic letter Paul is writing from prison where he is uncertain about whether he will soon be executed. The focus of Paul on reunion in the afterlife with this community is resonant with our own experience of hope in the eternal nature of Love. The Gospel from Luke contains a second discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees about acting in love for the other on the Sabbath. The image of ox and ass is used a second time by Luke to remind us that our concern for our work animals, or perhaps today our work itself, can be more important to us than care of the people around us. Andy Alexander, S.J. is very aware of how the Synod on the Family speakers recently have urged us to become more attentive to accompanying people in their struggles rather than focus on rules which exclude and separate us from those we love. The challenge for us is to seek the growth in love and knowledge Paul hopes for the Philippians so that we might act, in this time, to show deeper compassion for our beloved who struggle in exclusion by our laws.

The Battle against evil is engaged in prayer

Evil battled in prayer

The spiritual powers of evil are described as gathering in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. We need only glance into the media to be able to come up with a list of evil events in our world. We name our enemy as ebola, ISIS or terrorist. Friar Jude Winkler reminds us that the spiritual battle within against the passions which take us away from acting as people living in Christ are to be engaged first by seeking virtue through prayer. Prayer in the Spirit is described by Tom Purcell as our way of realizing how the gifts that God has given to us will be brought to action today. That action which will involve us with the other is love. Love will motivate the best response to the external evils. The Gospel from Luke emphasizes, according to Julian Kinkaid, the prayer life of Jesus. In walking in the Spirit, Jesus proclaims His destiny to be as the Prophets of His heritage and to be rejected by the people of the Holy City, Jerusalem. Unfortunately today, this place which is sacred to Jew, Muslim and Christian continues to do external battle against zealots who seem unable to find the armour of virtue in the action of love when they listen, internally, to the Spirit of God.

Too many questions for pragmatist

More than pragmatism

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge our modern need for answers and rules for success. The household instructions which are presented to the Ephesians today are directed to obligations within families and in the organization of work under slavery. Friar Jude Winkler alludes to the importance of mutual obligation in Stoic thinking of this time. The author of Ephesians goes beyond the pragmatic philosophy to encourage us to love others and treat them as Jesus would. Contemporary writers argue not only that Christianity contains Stoic thought but that this philosophy is very appropriate for Western society today which may find itself in similar political situations to Greece and Rome at the time of Jesus. The mystery of God and the disappointment we experience in not being able to get a straight answer from God are reflections of Diane Jorgensen from the Gospel of Luke today. Our pragmatic approach too often settles for less. Living with the love, compassion, charity and forgiveness of Jesus, which has no limit, is living in faith that the journey is not measured in accomplishments and quantity of good deeds but in the daily decisions to follow Him.

The Plan to hold the heritage of Love in the community