Today's daily bread email is a major reminder to me to not judge people too easily, gossip and condemn others. I need to remember to be nicer to others to help them.

I will continue to pray for the three men in my life who I can't really understand sometimes and get upset over - Dad, Kor and Hans. Family and boyfriend are the closest to my heart but sometimes I am mean and take them for granted. So help me Lord.

Reflection: How to help others become more loving

"We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works," says today's first reading. We all know people who need to be roused (i.e., awakened in the faith), people who stay away from our assembly, whose paths need to be redirected back to the faith.

Perhaps you're dealing with someone who's self-centred and arrogant, who's ignoring your needs and who's uncaring toward others. People like this need to be roused into the daylight of truth so that they'll want to change. And what about those who profess to be good Catholics while disobeying Church laws?

We have been commissioned to be the voice of Christ awakening them into a life of unconditional, selfless love, good deeds, and moral obedience. But how do we do this? Scripture tells us to "consider" the possibilities. Study the situation, get to know the persons you want to rouse. What woundedness and worldly training has made them unloving and selfish? What are they struggling with, and would they like to be free of it?

Once we understand their situations, we can invite them to trade up to something better, e.g., a relationship with Jesus that will heal them, a better understanding of being loved so that they can more generously give love, an appreciation of their giftedness and how it benefits others, and so on.

There are valid reasons why people stray from the path of holiness. By identifying and addressing those reasons, we can become more effective in encouraging them to change. If we only tell them the law that they're breaking in order to explain how they should change, we chase them away.

Addressing the reasons why people stray invites growth and change; addressing the need to change only invites stubbornness and running farther away. The first method takes time, a lot of effort and a willingness to serve those who are not pleasant to befriend. The other method is an easy-for-us short-cut that requires no love from us and no good works from us. It usually fails.

The first method means that we are light glowing from the lamp stand that Jesus mentions in today's Gospel passage. The other method is a measurement that we ourselves do not wish to be measured by, for when our own sinfulness is identified, the little love we do have is taken away by our lack of humility. If we're condemning others, you can bet that others are busy condemning us for our arrogance!

God has placed into our lives people who need us to encourage them into greater holiness, greater love, and greater generosity in good works. But he has also given these people to us so that WE will grow in holiness, love and good works. Isn't that a scary bit of irony!

Prayer: "Lord Jesus, you guide me by the light of your saving truth. Fill my heart and mind with your light and truth and free me from the blindness of sin and deception that I may see your ways clearly and understand your will for my life. May I radiate your light and truth to others in word and deed. Amen."

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© 2009 by Terry A. Modica

© 2009 by Don Schwager