Love is Everywhere
“Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom” (Ps 145:12).
This season of honoring our graduates, our parents and the nuptials of our friends brings us into contact with new acquaintances and old friends we may not have seen for awhile. What a great time to reveal the life of the Lord within us, to let the joy of the Lord rise from within our hearts and overflow into our conversations and interactions with others.
It seems that love is everywhere! We sing, we pray, we clap, we congratulate, we honor what God is accomplishing in the lives of others as we acknowledge their achievements. We encourage them to take the next step of faith in whatever his mission is for them. We pray that they “are prospering in every respect and are in good health, just as (their) soul is prospering.” It’s natural to want to share our heart-felt joy that comes when we are celebrating an occasion of great blessing.
Jesus came to reveal the love of his Father to all of us. He reveals that love in any way he wants—his creation, his word, his very life in the Eucharist. We can also find him in the love and care he prompted in the hearts of our parents, children and friends we now appreciate. He fills our hearts with love every time we are open to his love from any source.
Because he can use anything or anyone to reveal himself to those we interact with, we can be signs of his love and care for those open to it. Jesus is the revelation of God’s love and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we too are the manifestation of Christ’s love. That’s how we came to believe and that’s how we spread the joy of the kingdom.
How do we reveal the life of the Lord within us, where he dwells within our hearts? Anywhere, with anyone in any way he shows us.
