It is not unusual to wake in the morning to the news of violence, natural disasters and uncommon events that shake our world and us. As a people of faith, how do we view this news? Do we allow it to bring us down, to dim the beauty of a new day or to sigh in despair?
We think our world is a mess now at this time… but guess what? These things have happened in the past and we have overcome. You know, Saint Francis dealt with a class system that labeled and put people down. Did you know the outcasts were relegated to the hill outside the city walls leaving them no protection from enemies or any kind of evil?
Today is our call to act in the face of labeling, violence, putdowns, bullying and refusal to love. Recently at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) held here in St. Louis the theme that guided the Conference was “Being the Presence of Love, The Power of Communion”. Each of us can be the presence of love when we reach out to the neighbor, volunteer our listening ear to the story of another, hold the door for the mom who is carrying a baby and holding the hand of her toddler, wishing the cashier a blessed day and blessing the person who just cut you off in traffic.
Evil, bad things are loud and in your face these days. But, we can LOVE LOUDLY with random acts of kindness, joining our voice with others united in a bond of love and standing in the shoes of those lost souls on our streets.
Did you know love is a verb? Let us DO LOVE in the ordinariness of our days and LOVE LOUDLY!