![View of Wildflowers, Fields, and Lake Kinnaret (Sea of Galilee) By Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Wildflowers,_Fields,_and_Lake_Kinnaret_(Sea_of_Galilee)_-_Israel_(5710715820).jpg)
View of Wildflowers, Fields, and Lake Kinnaret (Sea of Galilee)
By Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
[Jesus said to his disciples:] “Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?” Matthew 6:27
![The Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 5-7 JESUS MAFA. The Sermon on the Mount, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48284 [retrieved January 29, 2017].](https://maryannmcsweeny.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/mafa015-medium.jpg?w=300&h=201)
JESUS MAFA. The Sermon on the Mount, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. [retrieved January 29, 2017].
Now is the time to put nonviolence into practice, to trust love is more powerful than aggression, blame, and division.
Now is the time to bring compassion and mercy to all who are broken, and to all that is broken in our world.
[Jesus taught them,] “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:7, 9
![Piedad serie negra By RuizAnglada (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruizanglada_-_Piedad_serie_negra_195x150_1984_A-L_-_Catalogo_1995_Palacio_de_Sastago_Zaragoza.jpg)
Piedad serie negra 195×150 1984 A-L
By RuizAnglada (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2:19
As my paycheck seems to leave less and less for extras, my belongings are becoming more and more shabby. I fantasize about the shame of having my baggy, well-worn wool sweater chosen as the ugliest in a competition.
Jesus reminds me that fine clothing doesn’t make a prophet. Nor do power, riches, and fame. A prophet is shaped by hearing the Word of God and practicing the Way of love, peace, nonviolence, forgiveness, compassion, acceptance, and respect. A prophet stands firmly grounded in the truth of God’s love for all of humankind.
Today I will look for opportunities to love my neighbor. I will do my best to be a prophet by sharing God’s gifts of joy and kindness.
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”
Matthew 11:7-9
Imagine the knowledge of God’s love, compassion, and forgiveness filling and covering the whole earth. How reverently we would step. How respectfully we would treat each other. How quickly we would help anyone in need. How peaceful our homes, communities, and countries would be.
Am I willing to participate in the kingdom of God—here and now?
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. Isaiah 11:9
Listen, welcome, encourage. Show respect, courtesy, attention. Practice patience, nonjudgment, nonviolence. Give time, energy, goods. Seek wisdom, peace, the will of God. Be love.
[Jesus said to his disciples,] “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Matthew 24:44
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
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
![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
I do my best to keep the word of Jesus: to love my neighbor, pray for my enemies, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the ill, welcome those I don’t know, forgive those who hurt me.
And when I forget, the Holy Spirit nudges me—a gentle tug at my heart, maybe, or it could be a spotlight shining on my selfishness. The Holy Spirit’s nudges show me the way to holy wholeness where I become a collaborator in the community of Love.
[Jesus said to his disciples:] “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:26
Mary Ann McSweeny 
