Do you have SON glasses?
“I Love Loving like you Love!” I wrote this tongue twister to Jesus in my journal this week. Grace does that. He does that. He loves us and He loves thru us, enlarging our hearts, little by little, enlarging our capacity to love, our awareness of the needs of others, deepening compassion, and patience. Love begins with Jesus - He loved us first…but YOU…
You are the light of the world! Matthew 13:14
His grace gives flavor and light to our lives. This is not the kind of light you turn on and off. That is not the idea. It is more of a glow or a sparkle that emanates from the very depths of your being. To be His light means you show the way to Christ, shed light on His truths and become a living example of His love. This light is powered by love, the love of God. Once you are plugged into His current of love, it can’t help but flow, flow out of you to neighbor. But you must have the fire of his love, deep in your heart, and let it show, right? Don’t put your light under a basket, don’t hide it, don’t be afraid to show it! We ask the Holy Spirit in prayer to:
Enkindle in me the fire of your love! Come Holy Spirit Prayer
So, how do we get this fire? By encountering, in a personal way, the crucified and risen Christ. It begins with desire, with faith the size of a mustard seed, through humble and open prayer. Remember, prayer is your relationship with Jesus Christ. Grace is gifted to you by the Holy Spirit who resides in your heart as a baptized Christian, to help you know Him.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. John 15:9
We learn to dwell with Christ, active in our hearts – in prayer, in the sacraments, in study, in community, in service and especially in the acceptance of His divine Will. Abiding with Him, we begin to see God clearly acting in our lives, we begin to hear his voice in Scripture, our understanding and our wisdom grow. Putting on his “SON” glasses, the lens of faith in Jesus, gives us a sharp eye and listening ear for the supernatural: in nature (which constantly tells of the glory of God), in our guardian angels, grace, actions, and urgings of the Holy Spirit. Your awareness of His power and presence in your life and in those persons around you increases.
I am the way the truth and the life. John 14:6
For us to be the lights in this world – to live the Gospel – we must desire His kind of love deep in our hearts. We must desire to love others His way. For my cup to overflow, for my heart to glow, for my eyes to sparkle – I must learn to love like Christ, heroically like the saints.
I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. Luke 1:38
Think of the Virgin Mary, our Mother and prime example of a woman, of the first disciple. Hers is a kind of love that is selfless, humble, open, quiet, charitable, alert to the needs of others, wise, faithful, trusting, comfortable being in the background and always VERY close to Jesus. This is not a showy kind of love. It is a deep, sacrificial, humble, serving kind of love.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12
In Pope Benedict’s own words on love, he says: “Love of neighbor is possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or know. This can only take place with an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave. Here we see the necessary interplay between love of God and love of neighbor. If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God. Only if I serve my neighbor can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me. Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. Live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love.” (1 Cor 15:28) ENCYCLICAL LETTER DEUS CARITAS EST OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI
the Son of man came not to be served but to serve Mark 10:45
When we love and serve others, we want our spiritual lenses to be pure and clear but how do we avoid spiritual blindness? Jesus was right in front of the Pharisees, yet they did not see Him! How can we see others through the eyes of Christ? In humility, we look on the heart, not outward appearances and we come to serve!
Having eyes do you not see? Mark 8:18
“One can have eyes and not see, ears and not hear, intelligence and not be able to reason correctly; for there is also a close relationship between humility and sight, between pride and blindness. The man who is humble sees.” Pg. 94 God is attracted by the humble and repelled by the proud. Whoever is emptied of himself is capable of being filled completely by God; but whoever lives for himself and is filled with his own ego has no room for God; God cannot fill him because he is already full. The point of contact between God and man is grace; and grace can enter only where there is room for it and where it is desired. It is evident that faith will be in direct proportion to humility. A humble man without faith, but who sincerely desires to have faith, will certainly end up by receiving the gift, because God refuses no one. …the more pride increases; the more faith diminishes. Pg. 100 Humility is the necessary and indispensable foundation for all interior growth since this growth is the work of grace.” Suarez, Federico. Mary of Nazareth. New York, Scepter publishers, Inc., 2003. Pg. 102
May we always put on our “SON” glasses, open our eyes to Christ in everyone around us. May we truly learn to love others as Christ loves us!
Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!
St. Catherine of Siena
Prayer:
Merciful Father, in the name of our loveable Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and all the Saints, I ask you to set us on fire with your Spirit of LOVE and to grant us the grace of making you deeply loved. O my Lord: may we never remain indifferent to your souls. AMEN. (Daily Prayer of Consecration to Merciful Love Father Michael Gaitley)
Song:
Open the Eyes of my Heart!
By Michael W. Smith, sung by Audrey Assad
Inspired by:
Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how will its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Philippians 2:15…that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.
John 1:4-5 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 8:12 Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Luke 7:22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.”
Luke 12:49 “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!”
Matthew 3:11 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.
Psalm 43:3 Oh, send out your light and your truth; let them lead me…
Luke 1:38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
John 15:12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Colossians 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Mark 10:45 “For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.
Matthew 25:45 ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’
Mark 8: 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?
James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.’
1 John 2:11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Mark 10:51-52 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master let me receive my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
1 John 1:5-7 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Psalm 19:8 …the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Ephesians 1:17-20 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 which he accomplished in Christ…
Matthew 11:28-30 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. “
2 John 5-6 5 And now I beg you, lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6 And this is love that we follow his commandments; this is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you follow love.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
John 13:34-35 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Colossians 1:9-14 9 And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.