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One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 36, Issue 1

<< Tuesday, January 7, 2020 >>

St. Raymond of Pe�afort

1 John 4:7-10
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Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8

Mark 6:34-44
Similar Reflections

DO I LOVE?

"Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God but that He has loved us and has sent His Son as an Offering for our sins." �1 John 4:10

Every Christmas season, the Lord through the Church calls us to read, pray, and live the first letter of John. In this letter, the Lord calls us His "beloved," who are called to love one another (1 Jn 4:7). The Lord God even reveals that He is Love and those who abide in Love abide in Him (1 Jn 4:16).

Because God is Love, it is most important that we love Him, others, and even our enemies. Therefore, it stands to reason that the devil, "the father of lies" (Jn 8:44), would specialize in lying to us about love. Almost everyone thinks of themselves as a loving person, but our self-seeking lifestyles, broken relationships, separated families, divided Church, and culture of death present incontrovertible evidence that the love of many people is growing cold (Mt 24:12). Ironically, lukewarm commitment to the Lord (see Rv 3:16) results in a love gone cold, and Christianity in much of the world is obviously lukewarm. Are you truly in love?

This Christmas season, let us admit and repent of our lovelessness. When we face where we are, we can grow into the love which at present we may only pretend to have. Let us allow Jesus, our true Love, to give us true love.

Prayer: Father, purify me "by obedience to the truth...for a genuine love" (1 Pt 1:22).

Promise: "The people took their places in hundreds and fifties, neatly arranged like flower beds. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to distribute. He divided the two fish among all of them and they ate until they had their fill." —Mk 6:40-42

Praise: In the Thirteenth Century, Pope Gregory IX entrusted St. Raymond with the enormous task of systematizing the Church's decrees. His thorough work remained the basis for canon law until 1917.

Recipe for a Miracle

Ingredients:
1 cup of tension
2 cups Stress
1 1/2 teaspoons of Guilt
2 heaping cups of Limited Time
3/4 tablespoon of Urgency
A dash of “No Other Choice”
3 heaping cups of Faith

Directions:
Fold ingredients gently into a bowl.
Mix vigorously and add a few tears.
You’ll sweat a little as you knead the dough.
Pack it firmly between your hopes and dreams and form into a perfect little ball.
Sprinkle it with a little faith, rolling the ball in the flour until fully covered.
Place it under a veil of belief and allow it to rise.
Put it in an oven that has been pre-set at the perfect temperature for the heat of trials and tribulations.
Allow it to brown under the warmth of God’s love

. Remove after due season and allow to cool in the confidence of His promise.
Garnish with your praises.
Arrange neatly on a platter of thankfulness and serve to friends, families and, oh yes, strangers... invite them too!