Today is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
In Thursday’s morning prayer from Magnificat we hear the reading from Chapter 19 of Leviticus that includes the directive to “love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the source for the second of the Two Great Commandments that Jesus told us about. The first, of course, is to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength, from Deuteronomy 6.
It happened, not coincidentally I’m sure, that Jason Carter, the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter, talked about loving our neighbor during his eulogy at the funeral of his grandfather in Washington yesterday (Thursday) as well. It’s a beautiful eulogy about a great human. Jimmy may not have been our best president but I am convinced he was one of our best fellow humans. Here is a link to Jason’s eulogy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjcWlIkwdUE
I’m thinking of this because of the wildfires that are devastating thousands of lives in the LA area right now. Some of those affected are famous but most are common folks. Even the famous are shown to be like us in their weakness and vulnerability caused by losing their homes.
We should be praying for them and all those affected by this terrible tragedy. We should also, as we have the opportunity, move to action to help them as we would hope they would do for us. It is at moments like this that we see we are more alike than different. No one should ask if they are liberals or conservatives, Republicans or Democrats, black or white, Asian or Hispanic, gay or straight, and so on. We are all God’s children, and as such, when one suffers we all suffer.
Our world has so much division, and yet, we are so much alike. This is an opportunity for us to grow closer to Christ by following His commandments and loving our neighbors whoever and wherever they may be.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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