Nov 5, 2009 - Thursday Meditation (God's Love Seeks Us) |
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Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D. | |||||||
Saturday, 31 October 2009 20:48 | |||||||
L ike the love of the good shepherd in this parable God’s love seeks us out when we stray desiring only that we return home so there may be even more rejoicing, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.”
All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus National Jesuit Vocation Day Romans 14:7-12 Psalm 27:1bcde, 4, 13-14
Meditation by Dick Hauser (Creighton University)
How sad that so many Christians imagine God and Jesus so differently. We imagine the Lord primarily as king, ruler or judge meticulously keeping a heavenly scorecard of our good and bad actions. Further we imagine the Lord as abandoning and rejecting and perhaps even punishing us when we go astray. We think that we must earn God’s love by fulfilling religious obligations.
But God’s love for us is unconditional and constant. Like the love of the good shepherd in this parable God’s love seeks us out when we stray desiring only that we return home so there may be even more rejoicing, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.”
St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, experienced this unconditional love. In a vision Ignatius saw the Father present him to Jesus and tell Jesus to take him as his servant. Ignatius lived in the deepest personal communion with Jesus, even insisting that his small band of followers be named the “Company of Jesus” and not, as some were insisting, after himself -- like the followers of Benedict, Francis and Dominic.
Today the Society celebrates the Feast of All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus. Today also the Society observes National Vocation Promotion Day. The “Jesuits” are inviting men throughout the nation to consider whether God might not be calling them to join their company, to experience Jesus’ unconditional love and together serve the Kingdom of God.
Supplementary Reading TIDy uP
Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit. – Luke 12:35
“Have you done your assigned chores?” My mother would ask me every day before I went to school when I was still a kid. I’d always be the first to get up to prepare for school. By the time I was all dressed and ready, my sister and my father would just be going about their morning ritual — taking a bath, dressing up and eating breakfast. So I had a lot of time to sit around and wait for them to finish. Then Mama said to me one day, “While you wait, why don’t you fix the throw pillows on the sofa, clear the coffee table, empty the trash cans and sweep the floor?” Since then, those chores became part of my morning ritual. I did it every day because Mama made them my official daily “assignments.” She told me that I had to make our living room presentable — as if we were expecting a visitor every day. That made me realize how significant those little chores were. Thus, I was never worried that we would have unexpected visitors because I knew they would find our living room ready to receive them. Our hearts are our living rooms. Are we ready to receive God every day? -- Claire Algarme
REFLECTION: What are the areas in your life that need cleaning up?
Holy Spirit, reveal to me what chores I need to do so that my heart will be ready for You always.
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