Tuesday, September 24, 2013

“Love for our neighbor will lead me to True Love for God”


“I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” – Mother Teresa

Gospel Text: (LK 8:19-21)
The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him
but were unable to join him because of the crowd.
He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”
He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

When I was a young boy, I thought it was weird when the priest would call us “brothers and sisters in Christ”. Um, I have one brother; I don’t know who the rest of these people are I would say to myself.

I guess the underlying question to consider here before we can take thisbrothers and sisters in Christ” statement seriously is: Can we love people who are different than us?

It’s easy to be kind to our family and close friends, but how do you treat strangers? How do you treat that homeless man on the street? How do you treat the bully at your work or school? How do you treat your new neighbors or coworkers?

It may be easy to point out the differences between you and them, to explain why you don’t like them, or to explain your actions towards them. Even if you are completely different than one person, you have the biggest thing in common – you are both a member of the family of God. And this similarity overshadows all of your differences.

If you think of everyone as family, wouldn’t you start treating them differently? Today, we are called to recognize that we are truly united with one another because of the love of our Lord, who said that everyone who lives in His Word, is a member of His family. So today, try to view the world in a different way: we are not strangers, we are a family.  

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