In the first reading, God asks us to love one another. We are called to love others in response to God’s love for us, and we should love based on the example he has given us. Scripture speaks clearly of the command to love one another. God does not ask us to grudgingly tolerate others, but to love them. Yet it is often difficult to follow this command. We all struggle with loving one another, and we often fail to live up to the New Testament ideal of what this means. Why is loving each other such a significant part of the spiritual journey? Our ability to love comes from God himself. It does not arise from our human intelligence, research, or analysis. It is purely God-given. Only God can help us love him and our brothers and sisters. Only the Holy Spirit can help us pray and come to the knowledge of God. The Lord loves us so much that he has adopted us as his children. 1 John 3:1 says, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.”

PRAYER: Abba Father, we pray for the grace to love. Amen.