So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:2
The bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world. John 6:51
Live in love... The word "love" has been so abused over the years, this simple instruction becomes more confusing. What is it to live in love? As we continue to meditate on the image of bread, Jesus gives us an even stronger image of what it means to love. His love is to give up his flesh, so that we may live and have hope of reconciliation with God. If we are to imitate God's love, then love is no less than sacrifice. Love is living in the Truth of God. Love is not just butterflies and rainbows and the happy thought that everyone is okay.
I once heard a priest brilliantly define an issue that plagues our current culture. He said that we all go around afraid to speak out, because we are taught that we're all okay - "I'm okay, you're okay." The truth, if we are to live as authentically in Christ as we can, is quite the opposite. We are none of us "okay" - we are all plagued by something, but Jesus, the Bread of Life, offers his flesh as food for healing. So it is more accurate to say, "I'm not okay, but in You I am made well, Lord."
If we are to truly live in love, we must be willing to live in the truth that each of us is somehow suffering. Out of love, we must lead each other to the only one who can make us "okay," to the Divine Healer, to the Bread of Life who came that we too may live.
Do we humble ourselves before Christ to admit our failings and allow Him to heal us through Reconciliation and the Eucharist? If we do not, pray this weekend that the Holy Spirit may reveal and heal what it is that keeps us away from the new life we are promised.
The bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world. John 6:51
Live in love... The word "love" has been so abused over the years, this simple instruction becomes more confusing. What is it to live in love? As we continue to meditate on the image of bread, Jesus gives us an even stronger image of what it means to love. His love is to give up his flesh, so that we may live and have hope of reconciliation with God. If we are to imitate God's love, then love is no less than sacrifice. Love is living in the Truth of God. Love is not just butterflies and rainbows and the happy thought that everyone is okay.
I once heard a priest brilliantly define an issue that plagues our current culture. He said that we all go around afraid to speak out, because we are taught that we're all okay - "I'm okay, you're okay." The truth, if we are to live as authentically in Christ as we can, is quite the opposite. We are none of us "okay" - we are all plagued by something, but Jesus, the Bread of Life, offers his flesh as food for healing. So it is more accurate to say, "I'm not okay, but in You I am made well, Lord."
If we are to truly live in love, we must be willing to live in the truth that each of us is somehow suffering. Out of love, we must lead each other to the only one who can make us "okay," to the Divine Healer, to the Bread of Life who came that we too may live.
Do we humble ourselves before Christ to admit our failings and allow Him to heal us through Reconciliation and the Eucharist? If we do not, pray this weekend that the Holy Spirit may reveal and heal what it is that keeps us away from the new life we are promised.
Come Lord Jesus!
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