All this week at Mass, we have been hearing readings from the first letter of John in our first readings. One of the main topics of this letter is love, which we’ve been hearing about all this week. Today, we are told that we cannot say that we love God if we do not love our brothers and sisters. The letter does not say that we should love our brothers and sisters only when it is convenient or easy or in our own best interest, just that we are to love our brothers and sisters. It also says that this love is not meant to be burdensome. Easier said that done. Sometimes we need to grow into this love and forgiveness, to pray for it and to reflect upon it and to ask God’s grace to help us when it is difficult to do so. We also hear from the Gospel of Luke today, as Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him. Perhaps this is the key to loving as God loves us, to rely on God’s Holy Spirit to help us to love and to help us to grow in this love. Like Jesus, we are to bring his Good News to all, to especially bring glad tidings to the poor and the oppressed. The Holy Spirit will lead us in doing this. It is something we cannot do on our own.
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