The Choice of LOVE

Matthew 5:38-48




If you read that part of the gospel, that is the part where most of us do not want to read.
This is the part where we want to skip. Why? because the Lord is telling us a command that is very hard for us to obey.


But on that part of the gospel, there we can measure how far and how deep we are as a Christian? 


To love a person that is lovable, that is easy.
To like a person who has a qualities that you like, that is easy.
everybody can do this things.


Jesus is telling us that being a Christian does not depend on this;
That you love those people who loves you.


Jesus wants to say, you are unique from others, you are my follower because you learn as a Christian to love your enemy.


that is a very hard thing to do.


To love a person who hurts you,
To pray for a person who persecutes you
that is what God is asking for us. but that is not an easy thing to do.




What if, suddenly there was person who spreading a rumour about you and tells everybody that you are doing a bad things? 
What if that person is one of your friends?
What if that person is the one you never imagine to back stab you?
What will you do?


That is the moment, when we feel good hit a person with full forced punch on his/her face.
That is the moment when we feel good to take revenge. You can do all of these.


But the Lord is telling us,
The one who is being hurt,
A Christian who is truly my follower, at a moment when he/she was hurt, it is not his/her right to take a revenge. 


It can be his choice. 
But the other choice is the choice of Christ.
In a natural way, human would choose to take revenge.
A choice that one can make is to say, a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye.


Today God tells us, you want to be my follower? 
Choose the way I have chosen.
The choice of Love.

It is easy to forgive a person who hurts you, but to forgive and to love him also that is so hard.
But Christ is telling us today, that is My way.
That is the Christian way.
That is a choice a follower of Christ must make.


Pray for that person who hurts you,
talk to him, and ask to the Lord to bless that person.
ask to the Lord that his mind may be enlightened.
ask also that both of you must learn how to be humble and to admit your own weaknesses.
So that you can both move forward.


These are choices that a Christian must make, in a world where violence is the name of the game.


The world says, Take revenge.


But Christ says, What will make you different from the rest of the pagan world if you only love those who loves you?


Today, we ask the Lord for that great gift.
No wonder He said, Be perfected as your heavenly Father is perfect.


When it reach to the point that a person can not only forgive but to love also, you have become like your Father in heaven, who makes the rain to fall both on the just and the unjust.


We ask for that grace, it is a very special one.
It is a grace that makes John Paul II reach out to the one who almost kill him and say, I forgive and I pray for you.


It is what we dream to have one day in our hearts.










May your life be truly blessed,


Ash










(inspired by Fr. Mar)

Pennies from Heaven

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about..

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the home of her husband's employer.
My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. Her husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant one evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband..
He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.
Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.
He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure.
How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?



"Look at it," he said. "Read what it says."
She read the words, " United States of America .."

"No, not that. Read further."

"One cent?"
"No, keep reading."

"In God we Trust?"
"Yes!"
"And?.. . .."

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin.. Whenever I find a coin, I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him. Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray. I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!"

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk.. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. "Yes, God, I get the message!"

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And,

God is patient.

----------------


Always Trust in God..
His Love never fails.



May your life be truly blessed,

Ash