Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me…I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.” What are we here on this earth to accomplish, and how much of our time is spent in pursuit of that goal? These big questions give a healthy dose of perspective to our lives as Christians. We believe that God created each of us on purpose; each of us has a part to play in God’s economy of salvation. First and foremost, our goal is to
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Forgiveness does not begin with us. We forgive because we have been forgiven. Far too often we withhold forgiveness out of our own sense of injustice. Yet is not for the sake of justice that we extend mercy, but for the sake of sharing the mercy we have received. It may help us to view mercy not as a currency we distribute but rather as an act of our will. I choose to forgive because of the love I have received. The amount of love and forgiveness is not
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments…are summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. Between God’s admonition to Ezekiel to keep watch against sin and St. Paul’s admonition to the people to love one another, we find the whole of Christian ethics summed up. We are called to speak the truth in love. Both truth and love are essential in our relations with one another. If we correct sinners without love, they are likely to reject our correction. Yet becau
