If you really LOVE one another...

The following is a reflection by Mother Teresa of Calcutta - Sunday May 2, 2010, The Magnificat.


“The less we have, the more we give. Seems absurd, but it’s the logic of love.”…

True love causes pain. Jesus, in order to give us the proof of his love, died on the cross. A mother, in order to give birth to her baby, has to suffer. If you really love one another, you will not be able to avoid making sacrifices.

The poor do not need our condescending attitude or our pity. They only need our love and our tenderness.

To me, Jesus is the Life I want to life, the Light I want to reflect, the Way to the Father, the Love I want to express, the joy I want to share, the Peace I want to sow around me. Jesus is everything to me.

Faith is scarce, it is because there is too much selfishness in the world, too much egoism. Faith, in order to be authentic, has to be generous and giving. Love and faith go hand in hand…

God has created us so we do small things with great love. I believe in that great love, that comes, or should come from our heart, should start at home: with my family, my neighbors across the street, house right next door. And this love should then reach to everyone.

(Magnificat, from Mother Teresa: In My Own Words, compiled by Jose Luis Gonzales-Balado)



To expound on the underlined portion above, Jesus didn’t give us a list of do’s and don’ts in the Gospels. Rather, he gave us a way of life. (Another good reflection here.)
 
I also go back to yesterday and the idea of "work" as the "Gospel of Work" or our work lived as vocation.  All this provides us a glimpse into God's gift of HIS LOVE and what we are to imitate.

The Feast of Joseph the Worker: The 'Gospel of Work' and our Contemporary Challenge

The following is a reflection from Deacon Keith Rournier as well as a good rebuttal to the worship of the things of man.

On this Feast of Joseph the Worker, let us seek the intercession of the Patron of the Universal Church and follow his example, recognizing that all human work participates in the workshop of Nazareth...

Faith in Action

My first day on the job at Faith in Action went pretty well. I am an assistant to the office manager working part time at my local chapter in Illinois. At first glance it seems very daunting in all the efforts everyone makes - double and triple checking - to make sure no one falls through the cracks. Our chapter is only 4 years old but has grown leaps and bounds.

I continue to operate our family retail business along side my brother, however as the economy has taken all the wind out of our sails AND my calling to some sort of ministry I felt like this was the place for me to explore and take a small step out of my comfort zone.

Our chapter has 17 parishes/churches in which we draw volunteers to help folks over 60 with such things as transportation, shopping, small household/yard jobs and friendly calls/visits. Many of the Faith in Action chapters have been long established and offer numerous services - all depending on the number and skills of the volunteers. Why don't you check out your local Faith in Action and see about volunteering today - a neighbor's independence depends on you!

Labor Day

St. Joseph the Carpenter (1642) - Georges de La Tour

Computers & 'Soft Despotism'

... the computer comes to represent an ideal, in light of which real thinking perversely begins to look deficient. Thus, when the postindustrial visionary reasons from the fact that complex systems involve "the interaction of too many variables for the mind to hold in correct order simultaneously" to the conclusion that "one has to use algorithms, rather than intuitive judgments, in making decisions," he argues from the fact that the mind does not do what a computer does to an assertion about the incompetence of the mind. This seems to express an irrational prejudice against people.

- Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft [171]