Day 4: Called to Love
Bible: Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
‘Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.’
Read the passage through a couple of times. What words stand out to you from this passage? Why are they important for you today?
Reflection:
In the Gospel of John we read that Jesus said to his friends: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”. A key aspect of our vocation, our common calling, is to apply this teaching to every aspect of our life. To love those we encounter through our work, our leisure, our home and family life, our church. To love those who we haven’t even met yet and who are strangers to us but in need of help. What does that mean? What does that look like? Mother Teresa wrote that it means ‘doing beautifully the work that I have been given to do, by doing simply that which God has entrusted to me, in whatever form it may take’. What work have you been given to do? Being a parent, a sibling, a godparent, a friend, a work colleague, a neighbour, a member of your church – all of these roles, and many others, are key aspects of our vocation, of what it means for us to follow Jesus, to love one another as he loves us.
Activity:
Make a list of all your connections to others, for example, parent, brother, friend…
Meditation:
Find a photo of your family, and/or of your friends and/or of your church family. Light a candle and put on some peaceful music. As you listen to the music hold these various groups of people to God. Think about your relationship to these people, give thanks for all that is good and positive, for the many blessings you receive through these relationships. There may well be some relationships that are not so good – pray for them, hold them before God and ask how these relationships can be improved
Paul