Direction of Love

Readings for Wednesday November 4, 2009

First Reading: Romans 13:8-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 112
Gospel: Luke 14:25-33


Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom 13:8-10)

In this journey of life, it can be very easy to become confused on how we should live our life. Some things for us are very clearly right or wrong. Stealing a car, definitely wrong. Helping someone pick up some dropped items, right. But not everything in life is as clear cut. Some things fall into that awful gray area, where it is not so clear whether it is right or wrong. So what is it that should guide us in our decision making? Wouldn't it be great to have a compass that actually pointed the way for us? A clear direction of which we are always meant to go? The truth is that we do always have a direction, and it is not north or south, but rather we are always meant to go in the direction of love.

Saint Paul tells us today that it is love that fulfills all the commandments, since love does no evil. I think that we should all remember that we are called to love. We are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and our neighbor as our self. While things in life can get very confusing, and those gray areas seem to always pop up, we must remember that the best thing, and the right thing to do is to choose to love. I think that love is not only the right choice, but it is also the choice that will lead us to a greater joy and peace in our life.

When we love, we are to hold back nothing. Jesus makes it clear today that we cannot be holding onto any worldly thing that would prevent us from giving of ourselves completely. We must let go of our possessions and surrender completely to Him. It will be hard, and it will certainly involve carrying a cross. By doing these things then we can love freely and completely as we are called to.

May we all choose the direction of love, this day and all days.

Father above, we thank you and praise you for the gift of this day. Lord, thank you for all that you have given to us, we do not deserve all the love that you pour out to us every second of every day, but we praise you for your abundant love and mercy. Lord, words cannot ever give you complete thanks, and no action or deed can completely show our gratitude; we pray we can just spend our lives carrying our crosses and serving you while holding nothing back. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.