Daily Gospel Reflection

Learn to Love

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant where we're exploring the genius and the simplicity of the gospel and learning to apply that genius and simplicity to our lives. Remember each day we're looking for a word or phrase or an idea. As we read through the gospels, pick your word, pick your phrase, pick your idea. I'm going to speak to you about the word, phrase, or idea that strikes me, but a very different word or idea or phrase might strike you. And I encourage you to develop that in your prayer today. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke2:22-32.

"And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves and two pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord, Christ. And inspired by the Spirit, he came into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 'Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.'"

It's a fantastic reading. There's just so many, so many words, phrases, ideas here. "When the time came, they presented a sacrifice." Simeon was inspired by the Spirit. You allow yourself to be moved by the Spirit. Are you aware of the Spirit moving in your life, moving within you in the moments of the day? But the word that struck me today was sacrifice because we live in a culture that doesn't want to sacrifice. We live in a culture that doesn't want to feel any pain, not even pain, even discomfort, or inconvenience in any way, shape, or form. And there's no love without sacrifice. There is no love without sacrifice. And we learn to love by sacrificing. We learn to love by sacrificing in little things and big things. By taking on the pain, the discomfort, the inconvenience of everyday life, we learn to love. And that is a beautiful thing. And these opportunities are constantly presenting themselves to us, opportunities to learn how to love. And so as you go about your day-to-day, go about it with a spirit of sacrifice. Go about it looking for opportunities to learn how to love and to love more deeply. God bless you. Have a great day. And remember, don't just be yourself, be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.