The challenge to activate love from within

God is love and God dwells in us, St. John tells us today in the first reading.  That means that love dwells within us.  God’s love is a creative energy at work in the world and in each one of us.  Our choice is to love others as God loves us. Through that choice love reaches perfection in us.  We see  love at work in many ways in our world today:  those reaching out to abused children, to the mentally ill, the physically challenged, to oppressed persons of all ages; those devoting their time and talent to educating our children,  meeting the healthcare needs of the sick, parents giving their all for the sake of their children’s welfare, public servants fighting for the rights of the unborn, the elderly, the poor, the oppressed, the needy; through the services of firemen/women, policemen/women, postal workers, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, judges, emergency medical personnel, and so, so many more giving their all to make the world a better place.

 Today each of us will have the opportunity to love others as God loves us.  A small child may burst into the home to share his/her excitement of what happened at school today. The parent drops what he/she is doing to listen to the child. Love is activated.  A spouse needs a shoulder to lean on and is comforted. Love grows! A person with dimentia tells a story that we heard 100x over. We listen patiently. Love is strengthened.  A car juts out in front of another driver and the driver responds with patience, not cursing  that person or getting even in some way. Love is perfected in that driver.

Will I activate God’s love within me today? Or will my heart remain hardened?