“Seeking God’s Kingdom and doing His Will so that we can ‘love more, hate less and forgive quick!’”

(Based on Jon 4:1-11 and Lk 11:1-4 – Wednesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time)

A teacher in a school was being felicitated at her farewell program after serving for nearly 34 years.

She was a teacher who was much loved and much respected…
… all because of her gentle yet firm conduct with all
… all because of her kind-heartedness and amiable approach with all

As she was asked on what was the motto that helped her to be such a lovable and respected teacher, she replied:
“Well, I have just tried to follow my Master is an epitome of altruism on the Cross. I have also been greatly helped by the care of Mamma Mary as every day I make it a point to recite the Rosary.

And all, I tried to do was: ‘To love more, hate less and forgive quick!’”

That’s a nice dictum for life, isn’t it?

Love more!

Hate less!
Forgive quick!

The Gospel of the Day is a beautiful transcription by the author of the ‘Gospel of Prayer’ – St Luke – on a beautiful teaching on Prayer.

St Luke narrates this incident by stating that “Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’” (Lk 11:1)

This query presents the beautiful inherent thirst and desire in every human person – to seek to connect with the Divine.

And Jesus, the Master lays before His Disciples, the blueprint for every prayer – the Our Father!

In just a few words, the Lord taught His disciples that the thrust of every prayer is “to seek God’s Kingdom and do His Will in life”…
… so that one can “love more, hate less and forgive quick!”

In the light of this teaching, let’s examine our prayer life…
… Does my prayer help me to orient myself more in doing the Will of the Father in my life?
… Does my prayer help me to love God more and to reach out His love to my fellow beings?
… Does my prayer help me to reduce hatred or other vices that have taken root in my heart?
… Does my prayer help me to reflect God’s Mercy to the people, especially those who hurt me?

The “Our Father” is also a beautiful reminder that God, in His infinite mercy and goodness, has always the store of forgiveness, unconditionally opened for us!
But…

To receive this treasure of forgiveness, we need to first forgive others!

It means that…

If we continue to nurture hatred against other…
If we adamantly keep having repulsion against the other…
… then we are telling God to not forgive either!
…then we are telling God to withhold His unconditional mercy on me!

It is this aspect of “forgiveness” that becomes highly essential and conditional…
… in our desire to do the Will of the Father, at all times, and living a faithful Christian life.

May the teaching of Jesus on prayer, narrated by St Luke in His ‘Gospel of Prayer,’ help us “to seek God’s Kingdom and do His Will in life”…
… so that we can “love more, hate less and forgive quick!”

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
NAMES AND IMAGES OF THE CHURCH

The word “Church” (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to “call out of”) means a convocation or an assembly.
It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose.
Ekklesia is used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the assembly of the Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his holy people.
By calling itself “Church,” the first community of Christian believers recognized itself as heir to that assembly.
In the Church, God is “calling together” his people from all the ends of the earth.
The equivalent Greek term ‘Kyriake,’ from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are derived, means “what belongs to the Lord.”
In Christian usage, the word “church” designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers. These three meanings are inseparable.
“The Church” is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly.

She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ’s Body. (Cf. CCC # 751-752)