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SCRIPTURE
- Deuteronomy 6:5        
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."  

REFLECTION
- Teresa

MUSIC
- Where is the Love? from the play, "Oliver"

NOTES
-

PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
into Your hands I surrender my life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon me
that I may love You perfectly,
and serve You faithfully
until my soul rests in You.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:31

Does the song sound familiar? It's the instrumental version from the nineteen sixties famous play and then movie called Oliver, Oliver Twist. It's about an orphaned boy living on the streets of London, and this song is entitled Where is Love? As he searches for Belonging. Well, sixty years later, I would tell Oliver, Here is Love every day when we gather from all over the globe to join our hearts and voices in prayer. Here is love. Thank you for being a part of it and welcome to prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

unknown 1:35

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Psalm 92. You delight in my spirit. It is good to give thanks to you, O God, to sing praises to your holy name, to affirm your gracious love in the morning and your faithfulness through the night.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

For you gladden my soul as I proclaim with joy the harmony and beauty of creation. How wondrous is your divine plan, O God.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Though darkness covers much of the land, and violence seems to flourish, God gives birth to dazzling light. His love shines through to all that is hidden.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

You delight in my spirit and elevate my soul. You bathe me in the oil of kindness. My eyes behold the radiance of your glory. My ears echo with love's refrain.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Those who live with integrity are like a garden in full bloom, whose blossoms beautify the earth. They are planted in the dwelling place of love. Their produce nourishes all those who pass by.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

The word of the Lord. Thirty-six years ago, I was planning my wedding and preparing for the sacrament of marriage. We had an older married couple, Mary and Jeff, who were guiding us through our pre-Cana classes, and they did a great job. There was one night in particular when Mary said something that I never forgot. She told us that love is not a feeling. It is a decision. She went on to say, right now, you're feeling lots of warm fuzzies for your fiance. But you're not going to feel that way every single day of your marriage. It can be hard. So you need to wake up each morning and decide to love the person next to you. Even when you may not be feeling it. You choose love and all that it means sacrificing for your spouse, focusing on the needs of your spouse, putting the other person first, and being willing to love even when it's difficult. I took this to heart because after all, Mary and Jeff had been married for 35 years. For those who are not married, maybe it's your sibling you must decide to love. Or it may be a parent. I think the same approach works for loving God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. It's a matter of committing to God. Each day we need to get up and decide to love God in everything we say and do. We choose God each day. And some days that choice is harder than others. On those days, I often pray this short prayer asking the Blessed Mother for her intercession. Oh, most holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, I entrust myself to your loving care. Guide me with your wisdom, protect me with your mantle, and lead me ever closer to your son Jesus. That last line, lead me closer to your son Jesus, is really the heart of it. Because the closer we grow to Jesus, the more he calls us to love as he loves. One of the ways we express our love for God is by loving the people he places in our lives. And that's not always easy. We love God by serving others, by forgiving, by showing kindness. We love God by making time to pray, by receiving the sacraments, and by making him our focus. And sometimes choosing God means choosing him when we don't feel particularly close to him, when we're tired or frustrated, disappointed or angry. We can still make the choice to turn our hearts toward him. These are all the decisions we have the power to make each day, and we may not even think about them as choices. Today, let's recommit ourselves to Christ by making a conscious decision to love him with our thoughts, our hearts, and our actions. When we choose love, we are choosing Christ. Choose love.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

And we can choose love because love has chosen us first by our Father, to whom we now pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and believe us not into our token, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, you have shown us that love is more than a feeling, it is a choice, a way of following you. Help us to recognize you in every opportunity to love today. And when we find it difficult, give us the grace to choose it anyway. Because when we choose love, we are choosing you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. And our prayer of letting go, to you do I belong, O God, into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you. I liked how you closed your reflection today, Teresa. Just choose love. And that's it, isn't it? So, friends, let's go and do just that today and make some fire ignited by his blessing upon us in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace. Thanks for joining us today. And friends, we'll see you tomorrow. God bless you.