It is 07th January 2021. The readings are from 1 John 4:19 – 5:4 and the Gospel from Luke 4:14-22.
There were three men named Happiness, Wealth, and love seated Infront of a home looked tired and exhausted. The owner of the house invited them inside their house to have something to refresh themselves. They refused to come in all three of them together. The owner was interested to know why they refused to come inside the house altogether. They had peculiar names such as. Their condition was more surprising that only one of them could enter a home at a time. Now the choice was given to the owner to choose one of them to bring inside. After long discussion with his family members, they invited the man named Love inside their house. As love entered the house, happiness and wealth followed him. Wherever there is love, there is God’s wealth and happiness.
Love brings all the blessings. Hatred, abuse, and indifference bring pain and suffering.
“The less we have, the more we give. Seems absurd, but it is the logic of love.” St. Mother Theresa. Pope Francis repeatedly reminds us that love needs to be seen in our actions not in mere words.
We live in a society where there are more pretenders and trend-setters in love than genuine, sincere, and sacred lovers.
Most of us are either pretending, selective, prejudiced, poisonous and judgmental in our love relationships. It is good to examine our style of love in our life. God’s style of love is the well spring of all our love. In every home, there is a pet child, a special and favored child. In every religious community, there a favorite person, the most endeared person closer to the heart of the superior. In every workplace, there is someone so closer to the boss. It is so painful to say that there is someone in our homes, religious community, in our workplace intentionally, selectively sidelined, suppressed, suffocated, and silenced. As our love towards the other pleases God, so our hatred and indifference to the other hurts the heart of the Saviour. It is easy to recognize the poor outside our family, and our community but we need to embrace those poor we have created in our families and communities because of our lack of love. “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt.25:40).
As we read and reflect the manifesto of Jesus, we need to make our manifesto clear. A manifesto without love of the other is toxic and polluting one’s own heart, family, and community at large. Love is the moisture of life. We need to keep the moisture in our hearts, home, and homelands and beyond. May you have a good day. God bless you.