Thursday, January 6, 2011, St. Andre Bessette 1 John 4:19-5:4, Psalm 72:1-2, 14-15, 17, Luke 4:14
ARE YOU LOVING?
"The commandment we have from Him is this: whoever loves God must also love his brother." -1 John 4:21 Most people like to think of themselves as loving others. However, are we truly loving or just deceiving ourselves? We are truly loving if: * We are "beloved," if we have first received God's love (1 Jn 4:19). * We love God with all our heart (1 Jn 5:2; Mt 22:37). * We obey God's commandments (1 Jn 5:3). * We love ourselves (Mt 22:39). * We love the brothers and sisters we see in our everyday life (1 Jn 4:20). * We love our enemies (Mt 5:44).
* The Spirit has poured out love in our hearts (Rm 5:5). When we see what it means to be loving, we realize that not so many people are loving. Loving is not something we can do by our own power. We can't "make love." Loving is a gift, freely given by God to those willing to receive it. Open your best Christmas gift, the gift of love, the gift of God, Who is Love (1 Jn 4:16).
Prayer: Father, beginning this Christmas season, may I love those I have never loved before.
Promise: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; therefore He has anointed Me. He has sent Me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives." -Lk 4:18
Brother Andre entrusted to Saint Joseph the prayers of those who came to him, and was not disappointed.
Video of St. Brother Andre... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_6AYehGNJs
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“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures."
~ St. Andre Bessette
Brother Andre had a special ministry to the sick. He would rub the sick person with oil from a lamp in the college chapel, and many were healed. Word of his power spread, and when an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, Andre volunteered to help; no one died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. "I do not cure," he always said. "Saint Joseph cures." By his death, he was receiving 80,000 letters each year from the sick who sought his prayers and healing.
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