Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Melissa Gernon
Opening Prayer
God, bless your people with every gift of the Spirit, so that we may serve one another in Christ’s name. Amen.
Reading
James 3: 16 -4:3
Beloved: Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Reflection
How many times have you turned away from someone because they don’t believe as you do or support what you support? We, as Americans, tend to fight for what we believe at the expense of someone or something else. But we have heard it said many times, in different ways, to love our enemies. These are not just empty words. The divisions and hatred in our world today are evidence that many do not love their enemies.
If we just remember that we can never look into the eyes of someone God does not love, our world could be different. This takes grace. So much grace. We must admit before our God who lovingly looks in our own eyes that this is so hard. Yet when we strive for love, strive for peace, the fruits will be abundant. God calls us to go to the hard places, not because he wants us to suffer but because he knows we have what those hard places need. Our call is to be the compassionate Christ that so many people need even if they don’t know it. It’s not an easy call but it is a necessary one.
Closing Prayer
Generous God, you call us to be loving servants to one another especially when it is difficult or when we don’t have the same values. Grace us with the love we need to reach out to those whom we find it most difficult to love. Amen.