Last weekend I was out of town for a wedding. I got up early Sunday morning after a very later night and found my way to the local Catholic church. I walked in a few minutes late (as a result of a few wrong turns) and was overtaken by the beauty of the inside of this church building. But I will write about that later.
 |
| Picture Source |
Last week they had a visiting missionary priest. He spoke of his work and the work of his community during the homily. He was an amazing speaker. He gave a clear picture of the work that was being done, why it was being done and what the bigger picture was. When he was done speaking he asked for donations to help support their work. By this time I was so moved by the stories that he told and the work that was being done that I was more than willing to give a generous donation.
This morning I was back at my parish and we also had a guest priest speaking about his missionary work. He was not an amazing speaker, he even seemed a little rude at times. I was not quite sure what work his community did or why he needed our support. Again when he was done he asked for donations to support the work of his community. I did not feel quite as generous this time. I told myself that I already gave last week so I didn't have to give again this week. I just didn't feel like giving him my money.
Just after this during the presentation of the gift three words from the song echoed in my head.
Love Like God
Now I can't even remember what song it was or any of the other lyrics. But these words stayed with me.
Love Like God
God does not love someone just because they are a powerful speaker. God does not take his love away from us just because we made a rude remark. God does not base his love for us on how well we can communicate a point. God does not love us more when we sound really good.
If God doesn't why do I? Why do I decide that the people helped by this priest are not worth my support when the people helped by the priest last week are? Why am I more generous to the person who sounded better? Why?
God does not love us for our worth. His love does not lessen when we do something wrong. His love is not based on how we look or sound. He just loves us.
This is how we should love.
Dear Lord, Help me to love all those who I come into contact with this week in the same way that you would love them
