God is love, and whoever abides in love
abides in God and God in him. 1 John 4:16b
I abide in love when I treat others with compassion, patience, and respect. I abide in love when I graciously receive help or kindness from another. I abide in love when I spend quiet time in prayer with the Lord—alone or with others.
Today I will pray to be filled with God’s kindness and patience. I will pray to give and receive love wherever I go.
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Jesus said to his disciples, “This I command you: love one another.” John 15:17
I count 18 instances of the word “love” in today’s readings.
The message is very clear.
Today I choose love in its many forms: listening attentively to others, speaking respectfully to everyone I encounter, helping someone in need, thanking others for their help, treating all people with kindness and courtesy, refraining from gossip and negative criticism, rejoicing in the beauty of creation, spending quiet time alone with the Lord.
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“Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.”
John 15:4-5a
Our lives are entwined with the Lord. God’s love supports us, feeds us, guides us, inspires us.
Today I choose to remain in kindness and compassion.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. 1 John 3a
Each of us is a beloved child of God, created by God’s love for the purpose of sharing God’s love with everyone we encounter.
What prevents me from recognizing myself and others as children of the God of love?
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James Tissot (1836-1902)
La sermon des béatitudes
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper
between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2
Blessed are we when we treat ourselves and others with compassion, forgiveness, and mercy. This is our birthright for we have been made in God’s own image of kindness and love.
Today I will put aside resentment, blame, and negative judgment. I will remember that all people are children of God and treat everyone with respect and kindness.
![JESUS MAFA. The Ascension, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48398 [retrieved May 17, 2015].](https://maryannmcsweeny.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/mafa011-medium.jpg?w=195)
JESUS MAFA. The Ascension, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved May 17, 2015].
Looking at Jesus, we see that God seeks to fulfill the law of Love: love of God, self, and neighbor.
We see God by studying the person of Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we have been given the grace to imitate Jesus and so give others a glimpse of God.
No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. 1 John 4:12
Mary Ann McSweeny 