Word to the Wise
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
[1 John 4:7-10 and Mark 6:34-44]Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. [1 John]
I could not begin to count the times I have seen the expression, "God is love," in homes around the country. These three words seem to sum up all that Christian faith is meant to proclaim! The first scripture for today from the First Letter of John goes on to say that God's love is manifested in the act of sending his Son to us. This gives a wonderful general focus to all that we have been celebrating since the beginning of Advent! One wonders why, liturgically, the words appear in the sort of "getting over the holidays" period before the Christmas/Epiphany season ends with the celebration of the baptism of the Lord next Sunday.
One reason, intended or not, may be that we can all too easily forget the message when we pull out of the driveway to "rejoin the rat race" after all the holiday celebrations. The old problems of road rage, bills (especially for all our gift giving), relationships (family feuds, divorces, etc. that get magnified in this time), and anything else we put on our emotional "back burner" to ignore (maybe hoping they will go away) till after New Year's - all these seem to rise up as one big slap in the face! How can we deal with all of this? The message needs to be reinforced: God is love!
We are all aware of the ways in which we can be unloving. Great and small are these ways - individual and communal - local, national and international! The problems and challenges on all these levels, from the family feud to the war in Afghanistan - can seem overwhelming. Yet, each of us in his or her own way can make a daily step toward getting the message out: God is love! We can be love, too! Instead of fuming at the latest frustration, we can look for a way through it which shows love. We may not be as well known as Elizabeth Ann Seton or Mother Teresa, but our love can be as great! As a "New Year's resolution," can we do better than to proclaim to ourselves and the world, "GOD IS LOVE?" AMEN