The Building of a Civilization of Love

The third area of commitment that comes with love is that of daily life with its multiple relationships. I am particularly referring to family, studies, work and free time. Dear young friends, cultivate your talents, not only to obtain a social position, but also to help others to “grow”. Develop your capacities, not only in order to become more “competitive” and “productive”, but to be “witnesses of charity”. In addition to your professional training, also make an effort to acquire religious knowledge that will help you to carry out your mission in a responsible way. In particular, I invite you to carefully study the social doctrine of the Church so that its principles may inspire and guide your action in the world. May the Holy Spirit make you creative in charity, persevering in your commitments, and brave in your initiatives, so that you will be able to offer your contribution to the building up of the “civilisation of love”. The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!

- Pope Benedict XVI, WYD 2007 MESSAGE, Growing in love each day


3:12. Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect: but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend, wherein I am also apprehended by Christ Jesus.
3:13. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before,
3:14. I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus.


-St. Paul to Philippians

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Vatican greets Muslims for the occasion of end of Ramadhan

I have just come from a visit from my Muslim friends. They are very devoted to their faith and are wonderful people. We don't see Muslims like them often. At least not on television. It is always interesting when we discuss religion. We both discover something new we didn't know about each other's religion. For example, they didn't know until recently that catholic have daily prayers. Or that catholic women 'should' cover their head. The most recent discussion was particularly unique. That's because it discussed the authenticity of the Bible and their Injil. Muslims think that our Bible is incomplete. They believe that the four gospel are just story books, but they don't present the 'full' message of Christ which they believe they have in their Injil. I had to explain to them the question of authorship of the Gospel. The disciples. And the authority of Peter. It was a quite interesting discussion. In humility we both accept that we are learners, and we pray that God lead us to all truth. We always remind each other that the most important thing is love.

It is a good thing that the Vatican considered addressing the Muslim world to invite them for dialogue. Some people think that such dialogue can be harmful, but not if each part is really orthodox in their belief. I have experienced that dialogue with people of different faith always brought both of us to humility. Every time we reach a point where we got stuck, we always go to the last judgement. We both know that the last judgment we will not be asked whether or not we had the right formula of faith. But whether our heart is a good state. We will be asked about how we have loved. So at the end it is always a sort of examination of conscience. Do we love better than them? This is a question a person can only respond to.

These are some important points made by Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran as per CWNews (For the full text, click Here.):

In his message, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran says that all believers, regardless of their
faith, should share in "work in favor of peace, by showing respect for the
convictions of individuals and communities everywhere through freedom of
religious practice. " Enlarging on that theme, he calls for "doing everything
one can to reject, denounce and refuse every recourse to violence which can
never be motivated by religion, since it wounds the very image of God in man."

Cardinal Tauran's message makes a special point of condemning
terrorism, "which strikes blindly and claims countless innocent victims, is
incapable of resolving conflicts and leads only to a deadly chain of destructive
hatred, to the detriment of mankind and of societies."

The French
cardinal argues that dialogue between Christians and Muslims is "the tool which
can help us to escape from the endless spiral of conflict and multiple tensions
which mark our societies."

Monday, September 24, 2007

Shine

Today we meditate on the Joyful mysteries. Today's reading also reminds us that we have to 'shine'. There is really no reason why we can't shine. If we are winning on Christ's side, then it is clear why we can shine. If we are loosing against Christ, that is, if in our pride we feel defeated by Truth, we can still shine. Because we are defeated by a great King. An anonymous wise man said: " the greatest victory one can ever achieve is to make your enemy into your friend."
It is a blessing to loose against Christ. One more reason to celebrate. So everybody in Christ's empire are joyful.












1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Present sorrow and suffering is the way to glory, the way to the kingdom.
– St. Bernard

Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel.'
-- St. Augustine

Citizenship
The Apostle wrote that "there is no more Gentile and Jew, no more circumcised and uncircumcised; no one is barbarian or Scythian, no one is a slave or a free man; there is nothing but Christ in any of us."Those words are as valid today as they were then. Before the Lord there is no difference of nation, race, class, state... Each one of us has been born in Christ to be a new creature, a son of God. We are all brothers, and we have to behave fraternally towards one another.
– St. Josemaria Escriva, Furrow, #317

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Perseverance

~ Today's Mass Readings and Reflections

~ Today's quote from myCatholic.com
Colossians 1:15-16He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things
were created through him and for him.

~ Reflections of saints


I am a Christian, and I shall die for God, and for him I would give many
thousands of lives if I had them.
– St. Lawrence Ruiz

Eating and drinking don't make friendships - such friendship even robbers
and murdereds have. But if we are friends, if we truly care for one another,
let's help one another spritually....Let's hinder those things that lead our
friends away to hell.
-- St. John Chrysostom

Friday, September 21, 2007

Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist

~ Today Mass Readings and suggested Reflections

~ Verse of the day
Ephesians 2:4-7But God, being rich in mercy, because of the
great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us
up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so
that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus


~ Quote from the saint of the day
Our Lord summoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible, interior
impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, he instructed him to walk in
his footsteps. In this way Matthew could understand that Christ, who was
summoning him away from earthly possessions, had incorruptible treasures of
heaven in his gift.
– St. Bede the Venerable


~ From EWTN Inspirational Daily Quotes
Alas, what about you poor children! Being your spiritual father, I give you
this advice: When you see your parents, who miss religious services, who work on
Sunday, who eat meat on forbidden days, who do not go to the Sacraments anymore,
who do not improve their minds on religious matters--do the very opposite before
them, so that your good example may save them, and if you are wise and good
enough to do this, you will have gained everything. That is what I most desire
for you.
-- St. John Vianney

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Daily Meditations 0

I think it will be a good exercise to post together (hopefully everyday) some daily readings in tune with the liturgical calendar.

Today we had:

~ Mass Readings and Reflection

~ myCathoic.com Scripture Verse of the Day

Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

~ myCatholic.com Saint of the Day

We have received baptism, entrance into the Church, and the honor of being
called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians in name
only and not in fact?

– St. Andrew Kim Taegon

~ EWTN inspirational daily quotes

In the spiritual life he who does not advance goes backward. It happens as with
a boat which always must go ahead. If it stands still the wind blows it back.
Fix the time, the length of your meditation, and do not rise from your place
until you have finished even at the cost of being crucified.

- Padre Pio

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The Paralytic (Luke 5) and the Communion of Saints



1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

That is today's 'quote of the day' on myCatholic.com. But this day has been even more special to me. I experienced the communion of saints in a very particular way.

Yesterday, as I was praying that rosary of the Seven Sorrows. I realize more of the mysteries of the human heart. Somehow the Lord explained to me how graces are gained by a meditation on the suffering of Mary. If we love Jesus we have to be concerned with his mother as well. When a person like me review how much she has been good to me. I can't just seat and remain indifferent. I have a very long and rich experience with Our Lady. Before I personally consecrate myself to her in many ways, I think my father consecrated me to her when I was born. I know he did it to my little sisters. Plus, he always put on our neck a miraculous medal specially when we were in danger (like during the Rwandan Genocide). But I personally experienced her direct influence on me when she saved me from a very near death. Both times my family thought I was surely dead, but I implored her help and she came for me. In addition to that she called me in her wonderful Schoenstatt family: a grace I don't know how I can describe. Despite all this and many more, I never really understood the mystery of her 'sacred heart' until yesterday when I was meditating on her sorrows. She pondered everything in her heart. She looked at the world from her heart. I realize more and more that life is more 'full' and purposeful when we look at other people's heart. We can notice their needs and related better to them. Titles like 'Queen of Peace' are connected to the human heart. Peace of heart: not worries, no regrets, peace of being forgiven, reconciliation, hope, more faith and confidence, etc.

What does all this have to do with today? Well, I decided to keep meditating on the sorrows and her relationship with me. Today, as I was going to work, I reached into the pocket of my coat and discovered a small prayer to St. Peter. I decided to pray it about five times. Then I prayed Hail Mary's in honor of the Seven Sorrows. After a while, I realise that I need help in praying to her. Just as I need her help to pray to Jesus, I realize I need somebody help to pray to her. So I kind scanned my mind looking for a saint to do the job. Blessed Pio showed up (EWTN was talking about him recently), and later I got St. John Vianney. Later, I remembered my guardian Angel. So I spent the day with these three guys. Asking one after an other to pray for me and with me.

At the end of the day. By an act of obedience and surrender to the will of God (I had something else in mind), I found my self watching Mother Angelica again. This time she is talking about the paralytic. Few months ago, I used to see myself paralyzed in my dreams frequently. Later, I realized that, before, I had asked God to help me to see how my spiritual state was like. In almost all those dreams, I had had to call 'Jesus' before I could become 'normal'. Jesus didn't show himself or speak loudly "get up and walk..." but I came to understand that God had been speaking to me through my dreams. I have other cases which proved later that they were special announcements.

When Mother Angelica started talking about the paralytic, I remembered a 'Healing Novena we are finishing with the Sr. Patricia (and other Franciscans praying for many people around the world...). But then I had a strong, sad feeling: " What if this is what my dreams were about !!!" Before I started wondering whether some 'men' took/are taking me to the Lord, Mother Angelica confirmed my suspicions with a small anecdote: " ...our protestant brothers have clever ways... I see many clever signs in front of their churches...one of them says: DON'T WAIT UNTIL SIX STRONG MAN CARRY YOU TO CHURCH... " Mother Angelica had immediately mentioned that we are very often spiritually paralyzed. You can tell like "when you confess the same sin over and over again..."

Well, I don't' generally miss weekly Mass, but I must be spiritual paralytic for a reason. Bad confessions would be the most likely reason. Going to confession often doesn't necessary mean spiritual health. It is really most important to do a good and deep examination of conscience. A simple scan may not show any sin. And we may think we are okay. But over many years, we may turn out to be spiritually paralyzed without realizing it. In my case it will requires some 'strong men' to realize it. Just look at these men who carried me to Jesus :):

  1. Blessed Padre Pio: famous for being a good confessor with capacity to read people conscience and minds...
  2. St. John Vianney of Ars: famous confessor who gave confessions for about 20+ every day
  3. My guardian Angel: well....
  4. St. Peter: power to bind and loose...
  5. The Blessed Mother
  6. My Schoenstatt friends who carry me always to the Shrine and many other saint-friends of mine...

Six strong men huh :)!!!

This is how wonderful is the communion of saints. The paralytic was healed because his friends (or people who know him) brought him to Jesus. It is even said that his physical paralyzes might have been related to his sins. Jesus healed his sins first, and then his physical illness next.

Well, I want to finish with a note of thanks for all those who pray for me. No matter how healthy we may feel, if we ask God, he can show us more areas where we need help. And we can be surprised that while we thought we were serving God we were also hurting him without knowing it. Then we can have the Lord's Peace. That's probably where the rosary of the Seven Sorrows is so powerful: a more powerful antivirus. Our Lady always promises us more peace, less time in purgatory, and other wonderful things. Protestants and and even catholics see this as nonsense... isn't this a result of some paralysis? We need all to participate in this wonderful communion of saints. Carrying each other in our hearts to the Lord. We never know what the next miracle will be.

Last, one of the Church Fathers reminds us of one word the Lord said to one of the paralytics he healed: "sin no more lest some worse thing happen unto you." This article was supposed to appear yesterday, but didn't because of some editing (which are still not over...). It looks like my publishing is getting worse...I need to review my schedule.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Feast of Our Lady Of Sorrows

One of the reasons I started this blog was so I can collect most basic useful information about life for me and those who visit this blog. It occured to me that the Church is alive and that it is working seriously for a clear and noble purpose than the average person realize. The Church is building a civilization of love. People in the Church are working in millions of ways to make the Father's Kingdom come. I figure I could participate by making their noble actions known to me and those about me.

Today (pacific time - sorry I was too late in posting this post)is the Feast Our Lady of Sorrows. Someone made a YouTube video about a rosary of the Seven Sorrows. Here it is. This is just the first part, the other parts will show up in small windows after the movie is over.


Friday, September 14, 2007

Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today I thought about the fact that Jesus suffered so that we may be happy, joyful, that we may have life abundantly. So today I think we should celebrate God's Mercy. Sr. Patricia Proctor likes to say that we should celebrate God's mercy. We should not be like the 'big brother' who seem to have had a bad rest of the day when everybody else was rejoicing celebrating reconciliation. Well, she has a blog about this and if you subscribe to her Joy Notes you can get them every day freely.

Again about this day, 'Civilization of Love' has good posts relevant for today. I also read 'A Beggar for Love', where I found good quotes from the message of the Pope to the youth in Lorreto (in the meeting they had earlier this moth). Here are some of them to remind us that we are on the Winner's side. We should not be afraid...


Let me tell you again this evening: if you stay united with Christ, each one of
you will be able to do great things. This is why, dear friends, you must not be
afraid to dream with your eyes open of important projects of good and you must
not let yourselves be discouraged by difficulties. Christ has confidence in you
and wants you to be able to realize all your most noble and lofty dreams of
genuine happiness. Nothing is impossible for those who trust in God and entrust
themselves to him.
-
Prayer Vigil with Young People, 1 September 2007



With love and conviction, I repeat to you young people present here, and through you to your
peers throughout the world: Do not be afraid, Christ can fill your heart's
deepest aspirations! Are there dreams that cannot come true when it is God's
Spirit who inspires and nourishes them in your heart? Can anything block our
enthusiasm when we are united with Christ? Nothing and no one, the Apostle Paul
would say, will ever separate us from God's love, in Christ Jesus Our Lord (cf.
Rom 8: 35-39).
-
Prayer Vigil with Young People, 1 September 2007







The price of Divine Love is not to be appreciated; for it suffices to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven, and the love of Him who has loved us so much merits the highest degree of our love.
-- St. Francis of Assisi.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Eucharistic Kingdom

(Edited Sept 14)

Today we are remembering 9/11! The world and especially America experienced the evil in a very unique way. It is said that many people returned to God in those days. People generally remember that God exists when they recognize the reality of the Evil One. Other people ask why would a good God allow such a thing to happen. Saints would tell us that He only allow it when He can bring a greater good out of it. Now, every 9/11 people remember..., they ask question about good and evil, why would people cultivate such a hatred?, how about God?

Even though sometimes we don't understand everything involved, Christians know that every things work for good for those who love God. God is all good and everything that happens it is for good. The greatest evil that ever happened was the Crucifixion of God's own Son Jesus Christ. If God is more loving, more perfect and perfectionist than we are, how can he make sens of what happened to his Son? How can He allow it to happen? Where is the power of God? How does He used it and in what direction?

Man makes war to protect himself, he is willing to 'kill and crucify' in order to save his temporal life and his temporal possessions. But Jesus has taught us a different way of making war against the evil one. His general commandment was "Love one an other as I have loved you". He loved us by taking risks one after an other. He came into the world as a fragile baby at our mercy, we sent him to exile, we persecuted him, and we eventually killed him. But He who is Truth can not stay in the dead, Truth is always victorious, He rose from the dead and He is alive with the Father.

He is the Way. He showed us the way to make true war against evil. We need to go to the School of the Eucharist (this link is a rap song by Fr. Stan Fortuna...see video...quite interesting:) )in order to know how to built a 'civilization of love' and bring peace in the World.




"You have to make your life essentially, totally eucharistic."
St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, #826

This picture caught my attention few months ago. I made it my desktop picture. It helps me to meditate on the mysteries of the Cross, the Eucharist, and the Sacred Heart and our human heart. This is our King and this is how He conquers. It reminds me of the importance of the Crucifix in the Church or in our homes. It pains me when I realize where/when/how I failed, but it is also comforting because it shows the great Mercy of God. It reminds me be merciful to others, to make efforts to do God's will in all things everyday. Eucharistic life is about everyday sanctity. EWTN has an interesting show about this: Eucharistic Journey.

By looking at it I realize what true love is. How true love conquers. It reminds me that Eucharist I receive is the heart of Jesus. It reminds me to check my heart to see if I can feel any fire. The fire that Jesus brought into the world. The fire that Christians are supposed to spread around the world. Of course this is only possible when one is in a state of grace.


When Peter attempted to defend Jesus with a sword, Jesus stopped him. Pope John Paul II has asked forgiveness for sins of the crusaders. True love conquers by the cross; by sacrifice. I like to call our great saints Generals of God. They have conquered by offering their lives as sacrifices for their brothers and sisters. They did not do it their ways, but the way of Jesus. They conquered like Jesus and in Jesus. Now many Holy Orders are like armies aligned behind the Cross of Christ. It is in those Holy Orders or Movements that we are at/become our best in being Christians.

In those spiritual organization we learn more about Reality. We grow to know what real evil is. There is a very very interesting topic on CAF about spiritual warfare. Some times we seem not to be aware of the fact that we are constantly at war.

The Eucharistic Kingdom is built on self-sacrifices. It is not at all easy to sacrifice ourselves. We need to pray unceasingly in order to be able to 'believe' and to follow Jesus until the end. We need the help of each other, the help of the Church and of Angels.

Too many times we wonder why things go wrong, why even simple things seem harder to be done. We have to remember the disciples falling asleep failing to pray with Jesus at the critical point of his life.

I think demons put all their weight in preventing even a simple act from being done if it is to be done with love and in the name of Christ. He knows that that simple act can turn out to be the mustard seed. Think of how much resistance Jesus accountered. Think of his experience in the Garden of sorrow. But we know that He has conquered the world, this should be the reason for our joy, our courage, and our hope.

With the help of our allies (angels, saints,...) we should engage in a proper holy war against the right enemy: the one who is the Liar, the Murderer, and the Accuser from the Beginning!






Christ is the victor, Christ is King,Christ is the ruler of the world.
May good times come,
May the peace of Christ come,
May the kingdom of Christ come.
.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Alleluia He reigns!

British Columbia is naturally beautiful but today Vancouver is just looking great. It is sunny, the sky is clear, and it is not hot. Nature is declaring the glory of God. And people seem to be joining in the song. I hope it is the same wherever you are!



Saturday, September 8, 2007

Our Lady's Birthday

Today the Church celebrates the Blessed Mother's Bday. She is so wonderful to the Church, to the World, to each one of us. What Present are we giving her? what flower do we give to her?

Everyone in the World, especially every christian should give her something...at least for her big eternal 'YES'. Every christian should say together with the Church: 'I love you Mom!'. St. Gemma used to do contests with her guardian angel to see who say 'I love you' to Jesus most lovingly. May be we can enter our hearts and search for all the ways/reasons we should celebrate our Mother's day.



Thursday, September 6, 2007

You are not lost!

You have surely noticed recent changes on this blog ....
I am evaluating different templates for this blog, so It may look different again tomorrow. Sorry for the changes. I make this blog generally for a youth audience so I am trying to make it look youthful. If you have any suggestions please feel free to give them. Thanks

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

"God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try" Bl. Teresa of Calcutta

Today is the Feast Day of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.


The MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI TO THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD ON THE OCCASION OF THE 22ND WORLD YOUTH DAY, 2007) reminds us about the christian love. I picked the following two paragraphs for today:

Growing in love each day

The third area of commitment that comes with love is that of daily life with its multiple relationships. I am particularly referring to family, studies, work and free time. Dear young friends, cultivate your talents, not only to obtain a social position, but also to help others to “grow”. Develop your capacities, not only in order to become more “competitive” and “productive”, but to be “witnesses of charity”. In addition to your professional training, also make an effort to acquire religious knowledge that will help you to carry out your mission in a responsible way. In particular, I invite you to carefully study the social doctrine of the Church so that its principles may inspire and guide your action in the world. May the Holy Spirit make you creative in charity, persevering in your commitments, and brave in your initiatives, so that you will be able to offer your contribution to the building up of the “civilisation of love”. The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!


“Dare to love” by following the example of the saints

My dear young friends, I want to invite you to “dare to love”. Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourselves as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love (cf Rev 5:13). Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilisations. This is shown to us in the lives of the saints. They are true friends of God who channel and reflect this very first love. Try to know them better, entrust yourselves to their intercession, and strive to live as they did. I shall just mention Mother Teresa. In order to respond instantly to the cry of Jesus, “I thirst”, a cry that had touched her deeply, she began to take in the people who were dying on the streets of Calcutta in India. From that time onward, the only desire of her life was to quench the thirst of love felt by Jesus, not with words, but with concrete action by recognising his disfigured countenance thirsting for love in the faces of the poorest of the poor. Blessed Teresa put the teachings of the Lord into practice: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). The message of this humble witness of divine love has spread around the whole world. -



Sometime I look at this blog and wonder what God think about it. I am the worst 'lover'! Just think about it: If you are my friend and you are reading this, you can remember that you are the one who made the first move to our friendship. I thought about this and wonder how it came to be that I rarely [updated ... :)... friends reacted and proved me wrong :)] 'dare' to love (in clear act) first, it seems that I have always been timid. But after I lost my family in a massacre by people who were 'close friends' I think I went insane without realising it. I have forgiven them and I love everybody without any distinction. However, despite high esteem people seem to hold in me, I have a very low self-esteem. I don't seem to trust that I can give myself to others (without being asked to) and be useful. But ever since I started this deep dive into Catholicism, I realize every day that this 'passive love' is not a christian love at all. Christian love is active and provocative. We have to try. As Mother Teresa said: "God does not require us to succeed but to try".

Let's pray for each other so that this love does not remain in words, but be put to action as the Holy Father suggests.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

"You are important to God..." B16 in Lorreto

I have been watching Salt + Light TV online and I am enjoying it!
In Zoom the Holy Father reminded young people that they are important to God and gave them other blessings.

Yesterday I was watching it at a friend's house when a girl surprised us with a bold statement "Sex is a prayer". Well, we somehow knew that, but that formulation is like when a new/updated model of a certain weapon is produced. Actually sex is always a prayer, the difference is about which god it is addressed to. I think that we are always worshiping in whatever we do, some of us know it others don't, plus sometime we don't even know what god we are worshiping. In Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), the Holy Father explained the “Eros” and “Agape” – difference and unity. He later proceeded through the encyclical explaining how God's love cover everything and how we should worship him in what we do.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

“Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience..."

Today I rearranged the links on the right side for a better classification. Some people don't like the way the Church is organized, they feel a sens of dictatorship and authority which should not exist for an organization which is meant to teach how to love. But one thing we forgot very often is that 'love' is a decision, therefore true love is a response to a commandment to love. Jesus illustrated it when he said: John 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. The words of the last judgement also remind us of our duties to others. However, we can very easily forget that we ought to love as He loved us. Learning and obeying the Will of the Father. He did not negotiate with the Father, He obeyed until the end and in all things.

So we should not be surprised that his Kingdom is an absolute monarchy. In our Faith we should not pick what is convenient to our temporal opinions, but accept the fullness of eternal Truth. We have to be in full communion with the Church if we want to be in full communion with Christ; If we listen to the successors of apostles we also listen to Him, if we reject them we also reject Him. Love seems to be something so simple. We don't realize that so easily but Jesus had to invite us into an attitude of a soldier in order to make us understand how serious the matter is. Not that love is complicated by nature, but because of our powerful enemy, life became so complicated. St. Paul reminds us of this military attitude through his writings. But an Army of love is a different kind of army and the battle a different kind of battle.

St. Josemaria Escriva says that Jesus summarized his teachings in a last sermon which he gave on the podium of the Cross. He illustrated the way a Christian is supposed to love. I liked the picture. It illustrates how God's love conquers the World. From a heart burning with love on the Cross Mary was consecrated Our Mother and the Church was born. It was also by sharing in this Eucharistic heart through centuries that men and women have become generals in the great armies of God. Some of us are part of their holy orders and movements and try to follow their steps toward the house of perfect love: the House of the Father.

But we are not always the Christians we are called to be. In the Word of Life for this month, Chira Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement gives us an advice:

“Pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and
gentleness.”

The experience lived out by the initial group of young women who
gave life to the Focolare Movement in Trent, back in 1944, provides us with an
insight into how we can live this Word of Life, especially the part about “love,
patience, and gentleness.”It was not always easy to live the radicality of love,
especially at the beginning. Even among ourselves, in our relationships with
each other, sometimes some dust would settle in and our unity would become less
strong. This happened, for example, when we looked at the defects and faults of
the others and we judged them, for then the current of love among us turned
cold. In order to remedy this situation, one day we thought of making a
pact together and we called it “the pact of mercy.” Every morning we made a
decision to look at all the neighbors that we would meet that day—in the
focolare, at school, at work, and other places—as if they were new, totally new,
no longer remembering their defects at all and covering everything with love.
This meant approaching each person with this total amnesty in our hearts, with
this universal forgiveness. It was a demanding commitment and all of us
took it on together. It helped us to be—as far as possible—the first to love
always, to live in imitation of our merciful God, who forgives and forgets.
by Chiara Lubich