Ivan Guaderrama (b.1984)
Love One Another III
Do not let yourself be manipulated into forgetting the One who is in charge. Love one another. Forgive your enemies. Feed the hungry. Help the poor. Be merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful.
Be not afraid. The vision still has its time.
[Jesus answered,] “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified.” Luke 21:9a
Right here among the living is where I am called to love my neighbor, forgive my enemies, return hatred with kindness, be the peacemaker, feed the poor, and welcome those who are strangers to me. I cannot serve the dead, only the living.
[Jesus said to them,] “That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out ‘Lord,’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Luke 20:37-38
“Zacchaeus’ tree” (sycamore fig tree), Jericho, Palestine, 2012
via Wikimedia Commons
Today I have a short list of people I want to pray for, people who have hurt me in some way and against whom I am holding a grudge. Resentment is a form of bondage and I wish to live in freedom.
Lord, teach me to forgive others as you forgive me for being less than perfect. Help me to see all members of the human family with your eyes. Show me your way of mercy.
But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent.
For you love all things that are
and loathe nothing that you have made;
for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.
Wisdom (11:23-24)
Dirck van Delen, 1604/5-1671
Church Interior with the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14)
Oil on Panel, 1653
Clark Art Institute
Humility allows me to see the truth of my talents, blessings, and strengths as well as my failings, shortcomings, and weaknesses. I will never be perfect, but the all of me—without pretense or justification, shame or pride—is my gift to God. I know God always welcomes me and my humble gift with love, forgiveness, and compassion.
“‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’” Luke 18:13b
John Everett Millais (1829-1896)
Illustration of the Parable of the Unjust Judge from the New Testament Gospel of Luke (Luke 18:1-9) for The Parables of Our Lord (1863)
Do I have faith that God is in charge? That God has a vision of peace and love for the whole world? Do I have faith that when I practice kindness, forgiveness, respect, compassion, and nonviolence I am contributing to God’s vision?
If my faith is wavering, I need to be persistent in prayer, confiding my worries and fears and weaknesses to God and listening for God’s response.
[Jesus said,] “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:8b
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Dsaikia2015, Brown Mustard Seed, October 27, 2015
The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke 17:6
I have a tiny morsel of faith, a surety deep in my heart that God is in charge of me and the whole world, and I can trust God’s vision and timing.
I’d like to play a tiny part in God’s great vision, and so today I will practice love, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness.
For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. Habakkuk 2:3
Ask to know God’s will. Seek to imitate Jesus. Be insistent on embodying compassion, forgiveness, generosity, reconciliation, nonviolence, and love.
You will receive God’s guidance. You will find the path to freedom. The door to holiness will be opened to you.
[Jesus said to them,] “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9
Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
The Fall of Satan
Illustration for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost“
engraving, 1866
God’s Spirit of love gives me the power to practice patience with those who aggravate me, visit someone who is lonely or ill, give food and clothing to those in need.
God’s Spirit of love gives me the power to say no to injustice, speak out against racism and prejudice, practice simple living in a society where money and possessions have become more important than integrity, humility, and kindness.
God’s Spirit of love gives me the power to be a willing servant of God’s mercy, compassion, and forgiveness as I go about my daily responsibilities.
Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:18-20
Luba Lukova
Mary of Bethany
Sometimes there are no words to express the sorrow, the shame, the guilt, the enormity of the burden, the desire to be healed.
So the Lord works with me in the silence. I seek his presence. I offer him my failings, weaknesses, fears, shortcomings, pain. I show him my heart.
And he shows me his heart of infinite understanding, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and love—and I am made whole again.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. Luke 7:37-38
![Dibujo de Jesucristo, en acuarela. Parque de la Exposición. Lima, Perú.By Dtarazona (Own work) [GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jesuscristo_acuarela_05072009.JPG)
Dibujo de Jesucristo, en acuarela. Parque de la Exposición. Lima, Perú.
By Dtarazona (Own work) [GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
Today I will honor the One in each and every member of our human family.
[Jesus prayed, saying,] “And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one.” John 17:22-23a
