I read this last night when I was praying...
"The more we love others as Christ loved us - serving ingeniously and without looking for recompense, being equally kind with everyone no matter how costly it is to our natural feelings, forgiving quickly and without conditions, always speaking positively and never gossiping, detracting, or destructively criticizing - the more his grace flourishes in our souls. The virtue takes root and grows. Then we begin to experience in our own lives the happiness, peace, and 'joie de vivre' Christ wants for us. That, in turn, attracts others to the Lord. We must invite those around us to follow Jesus more closely, but our words will be hollow if our lives are devoid of grace."
-Fr. John Bartunek, The Better Part
What an outrageous and adventurous challenge to our hearts!! Right? I mean, the biggest challenge. To serve someone else without looking for ANYTHING AT ALL in return? Being EQUALLY kind to everyone? To forgive without ANY conditions attached? To never criticize? We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of heart to grow. We are reminded daily of our human nature when we fail in pretty much all of these areas... but, the challenge and adventure... is to try not to fail. To love in the incredible way we are called to. And the part we sometimes forget... the incredible reward... the presence of God for all eternity!
It was a tough day today, so I needed a little inspiration. Hopefully it inspired you too. To love is the greatest freedom we have and on hard days it feels good to know I am still left with the power to love.
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