Lenten Reflection for March 20th

As the Holy Spirit’s Gift of Piety draws us closer into a filial love to the Lord, it can inspire us in amazing ways. St. Thomas Aquinas says that piety, along with fear of the Lord and fortitude, direct the will toward God, As we grow in reverence and respect for God and His Church, we will be inspired to love as He has commanded us to, and modeled for us.

This love is not an easy love, the love we might imagine to feel ‘warm and fuzzy’ inside. Rather, to me it seems like it has some ‘grit’. It is a love that calls us to make sacrifices. Saint Mother Teresa is a beautiful example of not being afraid of loving others until it hurt. To paraphrase something she said on more than one occasion, “A sacrifice (for love) to be real (it) must cost, must hurt, must empty (us of self) ourselves.”

We might feel hesitant about approaching love this way, this ‘gritty’ and hard love. It may feel that having a love like this that we are called to show constantly is an impossible task. Thankfully we know that through the Lord, inspired by the Holy Spirit and led by example through Christ, it is not impossible. Saint Paul encourages us with these words about ‘real’ love, “...It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)

Saint Mother Teresa also offered this encouragement and comforting advice, “Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”

Let’s pray that as we grow in the Gift of Piety, the Fruit of Love will also blossom in our heart and we will not grow weary of sharing it with others.

For our younger brothers and sisters in Christ:

Part of growing in the Holy Spirit’s Gift of Piety, or that reverence and respect we have for God because we love Him as our Heavenly Father, is that we can learn to grow in and share love in the way that He taught us to and by how Jesus was a role model and example for us of love.

This kind of love is not easy though. It means to love even when it feels there is no hope, when things feel dark or sad. It means looking for ways God wants us to love others. Saint Mother Teresa, a nun who could be considered quite pious, said that this kind of love comes with a cost, we need to continue to love no matter what. 

Love like this might seem impossible, but Saint Paul describes love to us in the Bible, “Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always continues strong.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) and Saint Mother Teresa offers us this advice,  “Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”

As we grow closer to God, let’s look for even the small ways we can show others His love and we won’t grow tired or weary!

God bless you.