DEACON TOM ANTHONY

Sunday, May 10, 2015




Suggested Reading: JOHN 15: 9-17

“Love one another as I love you.” Pure and simple, this is the foundation of our faith. Jesus gave this commandment to his disciples and to us to follow. Whatever is to be done, however we approach our faith it must be done with love. God is Love.  He is the First Love where all creation came from. We were created out of love and the purpose of loving. A Christian Life without love is dead and useless.
The opposite of love is hatred. God did not create hatred. We did. It goes against our very purpose when we act on hatred. Hatred causes pain and suffering. It is an emotion that by its very definition lacks control and purpose. At its root is pride which is the gateway to all other sin. Hate is against nature and is against God. To fully embrace our faith hate must be eliminated from all aspect of our lives. Hate is a destructive force while love is a constructive one. God does not want to destroy. He only wants to build up.

Jesus made it perfectly clear through his actions that love was at the center of his ministry. Jesus’ actions were dictated by this premise. Even when he chastised his disciples love was at the center. In the gospel reading today he referred to his disciples as his friends. This displayed a very intimate and personal relationship. The master/slave relationship was eliminated in favor of love. It was the final piece of the puzzle which brought everything together. In the same manner, our lives and relationship with him cannot be complete unless the glue, which is love, binds our whole Christian Experience together. We must all be bonded together with love.

Life can be complicated with so many relationships and interactions to consider. We are presented with so many choices on a daily basis. Any bad choice can lead to dire consequences which we could have never predicted. This is a great challenge to all of us as we struggle against temptation and our will over that of God’s intentions. We need to overcome the anger of Cain so that we can experience the love and innocence of Abel. Abel’s actions were done out of selflessness and love while at the center of Cain’s was jealousy and hatred.

We are all wounded. A life with God enables the healing to begin. Even though our arrogance teaches us that we are the physicians of our soul this is not true. Opening up and being receptive to the Sacred Scriptures and the love of God can let his healing balm do its work. We can feel his work every day if we only permit him to enter. If we do not like where we are going or what we are doing, we only have to turn to God and cry out for his assistance like a wounded soldier on the battlefield of life. We never have to be alone and we never have to suffer. There is no pain and torment that cannot be endured with love.

Deacon Tom



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