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1 John 3:11-21
Psalm 100:1B-2, 3, 4, 5
John 1:43-51
Summary
As we enter the last days of celebrating the birth of our lord, Jesus, and on the
Eve of the Holy Epiphany, there is time to reflect the true message of his coming.
In the first reading, we listen to the word that “This is the message you have
heard from the beginning: we should love one another” to “Children, let us love
not in word or speech, but in deed and truth”. As the gospel follows, Jesus asks
Philip to follow him and seeks out a man who states, “"Rabbi, you are the Son of
God; you are the King of Israel."
Reflection
For the past month, we have been giving and receiving all types of gifts. At what
point do we allow ourselves to accept God’s gift of LOVE and let it flow through
in everything we do in our lives. The readings provide us with one clear mes-
sage, that our love for one another is how we are nurtured in God’s presence.
Love transcends cultures, borders, differences, and is how we can truly evolve to
help generations after us. Each month at Holy Family School, we celebrate vir-
tues that help teach and guide our children to follow in God’s love. Over the past
several months, we have celebrated virtues of Faith, Perseverance and Patience.
In the readings and the Gospel, we learn how virtues in our life help us every day.
Each day we face challenges in our daily lives and how we need to take time to
celebrate the gifs of God. In times of need, we pray for faith, but do we pray in
the good times as well? How do we handle the struggles of our daily life and do
we celebrate our perseverance of the simplest of tasks? Are we patient, espe-
cially when we are tired, hungry, still having 100 emails to answer and our child
has just crashed your computer by playing angry birds? This is where we need
love the most. There is an old saying that “actions speak louder than words” and
“let us love not in word or speech, but in deed and truth”. As children of God,
our love is shown in our deeds. The simplest of deeds could be opening a door
for a stranger, to serving communion to our community who cannot attend mass,
to providing dental care to people in Haiti. It is our love and faith that helps us
be true to God’s call to help one another.