Reflections of a beloved son

If we are to truly love, we must not include some and exclude others.  We also cannot love part time.  To truly love we must love with all of our being.  As the scholar of the law answered Jesus, we must love God with all our heart, being, strength, and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves.  Only then, we are told, will we live.  Loving and living go hand in hand - to truly live, we must love, and in loving, we are able to live meaningful and joyful lives.   Love also does not discriminate.  Love does not recognize political affiliations, skin colors, places of birth, languages, age, religious backgrounds, etc.  Love only recognizes the person .  In the same way, the Good Samaritan did not care whether the man on the side of the road was from Samaria or Judea, Jewish or Gentile.  All he saw was a man hurt and in need of help.  All he saw was a man his God created, a man in which his God breathed His very Spirit.  Love rec...

"What do you live for?"  "Who do you live for?"  At the very core of these two questions is the asking of what drives you to do the things that you do or why do you do the things that you do.  In other words, it is asking you what and who do you love.  Who and what do you love so much that you are willing to give up your life for them?  To live for something or someone is really saying to them, "I love you." Think of someone you are willing to lay down your life for.  You are willing to do so because you love them.  As a people we have been called to live a life that is not for ourselves.  We have been called to live a life of love, which means a life living for the service of others.  It is the life that Jesus lived here on earth and that which He calls us to continue to live in His place.  Every miracle Jesus performed was for others.  Every parable Jesus told was to teach a lesson.  Every action Jesus carried out was to fu...