| "I assure you, as often as you did it for one
of my least brothers, you did it for me." (Matthew 25:40)
Reflection.
It is not enough for us to say: "I love God," but I also have to
love my neighbor.
St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don't love your
neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom
you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so it is very important for us to realize
that love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it takes not to
harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires that I be willing to
give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is not true love in me and I bring injustice, not
peace, to those around me. It hurt Jesus to love us.
We have been created in His image for greater things, to love and to be loved. We must
"put on Christ" as Scripture tells us. And so, we have been created to love as
He loves us. Jesus makes Himself the hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one, the
unwanted one, and He says, "You did it to Me." On the last day He will say to
those on His right, "whatever you did to the least of these, you did to Me, and He
will also say to those on His left, whatever you neglected to do for the least of these,
you neglected to do it for Me."
When He was dying on the Cross, Jesus said, "I thirst." Jesus is thirsting for
our love, and this is the thirst of everyone, poor and rich alike. We all thirst for the
love of others, that they go out of their way to avoid harming us and to do good to us.
This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts ...Mother Teresa
Lenten Question
Q: Is there a biblical basis for abstaining from meat as a sign of repentance?
A: Yes. The book of Daniel states: "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia . . .
'I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my
lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.'" (Daniel 10:1-3)
Lenten Action.
Give a donation to charity.
Prayer
Healer of body and soul, cure the sickness in my spirit so that I may grow in
holiness through your constant care. Amen
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