This reflection is taken from Pathways for Lent, 2023. See https://duluthbenedictines.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SO51924-SSM-Lent-2023-Pathways_Web.pdf for full edition.
+++++
Love is a two-way street. It implies relationship. To truly love we must learn to give and to receive, to experience great gain and deep loss.
Lamentation and Love. This is the way of Lent. This is the way of Life.
I am filled with gratitude for the gift of Divine Love freely offered by our God. It’s there for our taking if we choose to accept it, if we abandon ourselves to this intimate relationship of life-giving love, of naked truth beyond measure.
In this love relationship, God calls us beloved and holds nothing back. God chooses to become human, to become like us out of deep love and devotion, to fill us with the Spirit of light and love. This God, who sees us as we are at our best and at our worst, delights in loving us! Oh, what love! Perfect love.
And what about me? What do I bring to this love relationship? Do I choose to become one with God, to gaze into the heart of God, to soar on the wings of the Spirit (without reservation) into places where God is calling?
What about us? Together, what do we offer? Can we usher in a world of compassion, justice, and peace? “How will they know” that God is Love if we don’t proclaim it by our lives?
Pope Francis has referred to Lent as an opportunity for a new beginning, a path towards continual conversion of heart. Lent – a journey filled with pain and sorrow, yet BEHOLD! Transforming Love is at the heart of the story.
God’s love. Our love…
Perfect Love
by Sr. Jayne Erickson, 2021
Love for You burns in my heart when I see Your scars.
When I see You on the cross,
I can see Your Heart bleeding for all those You love,
Those who cannot see –
Bleeding for the poor,
And Jesus, Your Heart bleeds for me.
Love for You burns in my heart when I come to You,
When I sit down at Your feet, when I gaze on You.
May I bleed for those You love, those who cannot see.
May I bleed for all the poor as Your heart bleeds for me.
Oh, what love!
Your unfailing love, never holding back, always giving of Yourself.
Oh, what love! Perfect love.
Jesus, teach us how to share Your Perfect love.
Love for You burns in my heart when I gaze on You…
