Thought for the Day  

Legalist or Lover

What’s the difference between a legalist and a lover? The legalist keeps score, the lover doesn’t. Love thinks of how it might give more, do more, demonstrate love more fully. There are many examples of people who are poor in pocket, but rich in love.

More than anything else, God wants to be in a love relationship with you (Gospel). He wants your love more than your obedience or service! But if you love God, you will do those other things.

So, are you a legalist or a lover, alive or dead in how you live your faith? Your life shapes your response to this great commandment.

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Mission Sunday

We Celebrate 100 Years of World Mission Sunday! This World Mission Sunday marks the 100th Anniversary of its establishment by Pope Pius XI in 1926. This centenary is an opportunity to celebrate with renewed missionary zeal. Last year, Pope Leo XIV made an appeal to us in a personal video for World Mission Sunday. His request echoed around the world: “Please help me help missionaries everywhere.” That’s what World Mission Sunday does: it helps Pope Leo care for the 1,130 missionary dioceses and territories under his supervision through the Dicastery for Evangelization. We are all called to be a part of this missionary work and we have a singular means to do so: World Mission Sunday. The second collection we take up today helps extend the Church’s evangelization work to missionary lands where the Gospel is being proclaimed for the first time, as well as to places where the Church barely exists, or is too young, too persecuted, or too poor to sustain herself. Thank you for responding to Pope Leo’s call to help him help missionaries everywhere!

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Hurt, Anger and Disappointment:

The landowner had prepared for a large crowd. When he sent his servants out to personally remind the guests to come, some of the servants were mistreated, beaten and even killed by his prospective guests! Quite naturally, the king was enraged.

What does this Sunday’s Gospel say to us? I doubt that we have had the experience this story speaks of. However, we all have been disappointed and upset at various times in our lives.

We may have been deeply hurt by someone or betrayed by another. Our natural human response is to be angry, hurt and disappointed – and rightly so. Hopefully, we haven’t decided to kill anyone because of that!

In these situations, we need to take time to calm down and deal with the hurt, anger and disappointment. We need to acknowledge and feel the emotions. If we repress them, most likely the emotions will come back with a vengeance. But we can’t stop there. We also need to honestly acknowledge what we are experiencing, but then with time to gradually ‘let those feelings go’ and forgive.

Most often this is the last thing that we want to do! It will take time, but it is an important step to take. If we nurse our anger and hurt, we are not hurting the individuals who disappointed us, we are hurting ourselves and those we love! If we are not able to forgive, we simply need to ask God to help us. May we have the grace to ask God to heal the anger and hurt – and to free us!                                                              

Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau OSB

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash