Earth month Series
Love Made Visible
Reflection
The heart sees a pattern of unity among all things. It reaches below the surface to find love that is visible everywhere. All living beings come from the power of Love and are expressions of love. In our universe, all is one, all is connected. The shelter and nourishment given by trees and plants is a love offering. The integrity and loyalty of animals who share their lives with us reflects the simplicity of love. Happy children witness to the love of their parents and evoke our own love. The generous relationships and friendships in our lives teach us the meaning of love. Nature itself, its sounds, colors, and forms, is a continual outpouring of love. The essence of existence is meant to be love. All that is, is a visible sign of the Source of Love. Wherever we look, we see its diversity. Love is the one great commandment by which we are called to live.
Prayer
Love one another.
John 15:17
Action
Where do you see love made visible in your daily life? Attune yourself to notice. How can you be love made visible for others?
Suggested Reading
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and God’s love is made visible in us.
1 John 4:12
It is God whom human beings know in every creature.
Hildegard of Bingen
The skin of deeply spiritual persons is not a dividing membrane
that separates them from the world—but a connecting membrane,
a permeable membrane, through which events of the world and
events of their inner life flow into one another.
Patricia Mische
The conclusion is always the same: love is the most powerful and still the most unknown energy of the world.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
We are beginning to hear the essential harmony that lies at the heart of the universe. And we are beginning to understand that we will be well to the extent that we move back into relationship with one another, whether as individuals and families or as nations and species. The time is right. The time is desperately right.
John Philip Newell
If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer.
Albert Einstein
The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.
Paulo Coelho
There is just wonder right in front of us, and we don’t spend enough time thinking about it.
Michael Pollan
Video: Love Made Visible
Note:
As Sisters of St. Joseph, our charism calls us to love of God and neighbor without distinction. We believe that all is one and that our call is to an active inclusive love that seeks this union with God and the sacred community of life that includes all of creation – air, soil, water, plants, and animals. We see ourselves in union with this community that we hold as the neighbor through whom God continues to be revealed.
Sisters of St. Joseph Land Ethic Statement
We established an organic garden on the Brentwood grounds in keeping with our belief that all of God’s creation is sacred and should be treated with respect and care. The soil remains in its pristine state without pesticides and pollutants and free and healthy chickens provide organic eggs. The Garden Ministry not only seeks to model organic agricultural principles but also to teach children their connection with earth and to foster a community spirit among adults. Throughout the year rituals and prayer at the times of the equinoxes and solstices gather sisters, friends and neighbors in prayer to attune to and celebrate the changing seasons. We work a natural garden in keeping with our belief that all of God’s creation is sacred and should be treated with respect and care