We are called by our baptism to remember each member of our human family is beloved of God.
It is our lifework to offer compassion to the suffering, forgiveness to those who have hurt us, and comfort to those who are grieving and burdened with the stresses that arise in life.
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Isaiah 40:1
JESUS MAFA. The Three Wise Men, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
The star of the Christ leads me by the light of love, hope, compassion, and peace to reveal God’s goodness in me, my neighbor, and the world.
Other stars in our world attract me with the promise of riches, power, ease, and fame.
And then there are the dark stars that seduce me into depression, despair, and discontent.
I must choose with the wisdom of the magi the star I will follow.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. Matthew 2:9b
Holy Family
A worldwide human family that reflects love and harmony…
…is only possible if I open my heart today and treat myself and all people with compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. It is only possible when I stop comparing myself to others and follow the Way of unconditional love.
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. Colossians 3:12-13a
Blessed are we who believe God so loved the world, he sent his only son to remind us that the whole human family is beloved of God.
Blessed are we who believe God’s holy Spirit dwells in each of us, that we share a spark of the divine in our being.
Blessed are we who believe we have been empowered to be God’s eyes, hands, and hearts to love and serve our neighbors.
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Luke 1:45
I place my anxieties into God’s hands today. I will not be afraid for God hears me and responds with love and compassion.
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your presence.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.
Philippians 4:6
John the Baptist Preaching
And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value. Philippians 1:9
To prepare the Way of the Lord, I deliberately practice the qualities love wherever I find myself.
Patience. Kindness. Forbearance. Trust. Hope. Reverence. Humility. Gratitude. Compassion.
Today I will choose to love.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
Sketch for “Jesus the Son of Man”, 1923
graphite and watercolor on paper
Metropolitan Museum of Art
As members of the human family, we are interconnected, entwined with the One who made us in love and for love.
Made in God’s image of love and goodness, we are called to take on the nature of God, called to be love and goodness in the world, called to “live in Love’s energy and to love goodness.”
Today I will practice love by looking for goodness in everyone I meet.
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all. 1 Thessalonians 3:12a
