Humbly submit your will to God (thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Beloved, we love God because
he first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him.
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. 1 Jn 4:19-5:4

John reminds us where love comes from and how we are called to love.  ”If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar.”  We cannot pray our hearts out, put on a school uniform, attend Mass on Sundays and say we are Catholic, then go home, to school, or anywhere and be mean to people, gossip, spread rumors, bully, and hurt others.  We are lying to ourselves and not really loving God.  We cannot pray for an end to abortion, then text mean things about people on social media or bully people at school.  True love must be the intention of our heart for all and it flows from God through us to others.  If we truly love God, we keep all of His commandments.  ”His commandments are not burdensome”.  His commandments were given to us out of love to protect us from misery and to protect us from evil, from losing our soul and His grace.  If we believe God gave us commandments to take away our fun, we are listening to the deception of the devil.  The commandments lead to the true desire of our heart, love, goodness, kindness, eternal glory with God, our heavenly home.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. Lk 4:14-22

Jesus reveals the greatest Truth today, He is the Messiah.  He stands in His home Temple, reads the prophecy of Isaiah, then says, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”.  Is there any other way we need to hear it then straight from His mouth?  Jesus just spoke to the world, He is the Messiah.  The one to set us free from sin and death and an opportunity to reconcile with God that was not available before.  This is life changing, it is revolutionary.  It is the most bold statement by any person.  Therefore, it is easy to see why the Jews rejected Him.  He was a poor man (from the other side of town), the son of a carpenter, an ordinary family.  When He reveals himself to his closest companions, the disciples, they often have a hard time believing him and reject him, too.  It is so difficult to wrap our heads around the idea that Jesus was the God-Man.  Love changes that for all of us.  As John closes his letter in the first reading, he says, “And the victory that conquers the world is our faith”.  Human reason can only take us so far.  We must take the leap and rely on faith.  It is a difficult leap, but it conquers the world and leads us to the promised land.  Do you believe?  Are you ready to start loving?  Love is a decision.  It is what we are designed for and how we have entered into existence.  Stop fighting it, stop doubting, and begin not only to exist, but live.  St. Pope John Paul II said the Christian life is “a great adventure”.  ”Be not afraid”. Start living!

Today’s challenge: Prove to God you love Him by following the commandments and treating others the way you want to be treated.  Love.  Believe.

Be a servant, become a saint!
​#Christian YOLO