Reflection
For Jesus, the presence of God’s Spirit is evident in human interactions of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, sharing, working for justice, respect, joy, working for peace, When you see these things, you know God’s Spirit is here. When you do these things, you know God’s Spirit is here in you. Jesus called people to recognize and name the presence of God’s Spirit in their midst. This should be the heart of the Gospel message Christianity shares with the world today.The good news is that in everyday decent human interaction all people encounter the sacred, the Spirit of God at work.
Michael Morwood
Prayer
May I reflect God’s Spirit in my relationships with others.
Action
Consider what you believe to be the essence of Christian spirituality and behavior. Is it consistent with the teaching of Jesus?
Suggested Reading
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. be full of tender affection toward each other… Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, continue instant in prayer. Communicate to the necessities of the community, pursue hospitality. Bless them who persecute you; bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Agree in the same affection toward each other. Mind not high, but condescend to low, things. Be not wise in your own conceit. Render to no one evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all. If it be possible, as much lies in you, live peaceably with all. Dearly beloved, revenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay”, says the Lord. Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink…. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12: 9 – 21
Only a love that becomes gratuitous service, only the love that Jesus taught and embodied, will bring separated Christians closer to one another. Only that love, which does not appeal to the past in order to remain aloof or to point a finger, only that love which in God’s name puts our brothers and sisters before the ironclad defense of our own religious structures, will unite us.
Pope Francis
Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone you will presently come to love him.
C.S.Lewis
Love is the sum of all virtue, and love disposes us to good.
Jonathan Edwards
Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays.
Andrew Murray
What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.
Augustine
The first duty of love is to listen.
Paul Tillich
Love is an act of endless forgiveness.
Jean Vanier
We become truly personal by loving God and by loving other humans… In its deepest sense, love is the life, the energy, of the Creator in us.
Kallistos Ware