1. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
    (Acts 2: 1-4)







    artwork: pentecost by joseph ignaz mildorfer, 1750s

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  2. How do you know you’ve acted in love for another person?

    This is a question my brother, Carl, and I discussed a few Sundays ago. We agreed that the answer many of us will have will be something like this: “I act in love when I choose to do what is good for the other’s wellbeing.”

    This however can hide a selfishness we are all guilty of from time to time: the perception of the good we say the other needs is in fact mine. Consider the charity we do for the poor and helpless: don’t we sometimes say “this is what I feel they need and this is we ought to do for them”?

    When we act out of what we feel the other needs, we will do kind acts and speak comforting words. But we may not love truly.

    Indeed, how can we truly love a sister in word and deed unless we are first willing to step into her shoes and appreciate what she really needs? And isn’t the true love I have for my brother realized more fully when I am open enough to listen to him and to see with his eyes his deepest desire that I must honestly minister to?

    That to love another means sacrificing what I judge to be the right and correct thing I must do challenges you and me to admit that true love for another involves sacrifice. It demands first of all a self-sacrifice of how I see and understand the person before me as he honestly is.

    If the above is true, then, our acts of loving another cannot originate with me. Rather, they begin with others, especially, the needy and the forgotten, the outcast and the lesser, who call me to be there for and with them. They will call me out of my false sense of charity. They call me to go beyond myself, beyond my perception of how I am to love my friend. Then, I can begin to love authentically. When I can do this, I respect my friend as he is, one like me, yet one who is unique and individual and who I am invited into responsible friendship with.

    Jesus died on the Cross in order that we will have eternal life. This is the fullness of the self-sacrifice of loving another. In loving us, Jesus’ action gives life. This gift also redeems and celebrates that we are more than sinful people to him; we are his beloved friends.

    If we take Jesus’ example of love seriously, we will find ourselves challenged to give life to the persons and relationships that are now stagnant, soured or dead in our lives. These are so because our fears and pettiness, our arrogance and stubbornness, our past hurts and disappointments have infected them. To these human frailties, Jesus’ self-sacrifice presents us with the hopeful belief that darkness will give way to light. This is posssible for you and me because at the heart of sacrifice is a love that transfigures.

    Perhaps, we can ask ourselves, Is there someone I am at odds with that I should lay down my life for so that he can live more fully?




    photo: st wilfred's church, harrogate by mig_r
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"Bukas Palad"
"Bukas Palad"
is Filipino for open palms
Greetings!
Greetings!
Peace and welcome, dear friend.
I hope you will find in these posts something that speaks to you of the God who loves us all and who always holds us in the palm of his hand. Blessings!
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Fall in Love, Stay in Love
Fall in Love, Stay in Love

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute way final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

Pedro Arrupe, sj, Superior General, 1965 - 1983

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is a 50something Catholic who resides in Singapore and works for the Church. He is a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.
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©adrian.danker.sj, 2006-2018

The views I express in these pages are personal. They do not speak for the Society of Jesus or the Catholic Church.
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