Sunday February 23: Be Compassionate and Loving. It’s Who You Are!

To Practice

• Prayerfully re-read these passages again in the manner of Lectio Divina, reading them aloud to engage more of your senses and feel the vibrations in your body. Gaze at the image. What do you receive for your journey now?
• You may like to listen to this song, Orders, by Bruce Cockburn (4:44 minutes).
• Reflection: Each morning this week, take some time to sit in stillness with one phrase from the passage: “Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Let the words settle in your heart. Ask for the grace to see as God sees, to love as God loves. At some point during your day, notice one moment when you are tempted to withhold love—whether through impatience, resentment, or judgment. In that moment, pause. Take a slow breath. Silently repeat the phrase: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” See what shifts within you. In the evening, reflect: Where did I resist love today? Where did I allow mercy to flow? Offer it all to God.

You may wish to re-read the full email reflection here: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/2025_word-of-the-week-feb23

“Our orders said TO LOVE THEM ALL.”

Beautiful to see Bruce included here.   This latest album is his best yet.

Someone I have labeled as “enemy” may reveal a part of me that I have denied. Can I stay in the discomfort long enough to receive the message with humility?  Sometimes those we have labeled as “enemies” bring chaos into the established order and invite us to question what we have taken for granted. Rather than reject the message and label the messengers as “enemies”, can we remain in the chaos with compassion until its message is revealed?

Very insightful reflection, Sue. Thank you. – Pamela

This reflection was submitted via another means by George Marsh: “Reflecting on today’s word, loving my enemies. I tried that and was deceived out of a large amount of money over two years. When I admitted that the man I had trusted was dishonest, I recalled another of Jesus’s teachings, be gentle as lambs and cunning as serpents. I had not taken advice to be careful giving money to a stranger with a criminal record. To protect other gullible people, I told the police, the man’s parole officer, what he did to me; the police arrested him, put him on trial, and the court sentenced him to prison. My former trusted friend will have some time to amend his conscience and life. I pray that God will take special care for him and his family, and for the public and the system of law enforcement.”

 

James Finley writes “The mystery of love is that it does not erase differences, but it refuses to be defined by them.” This thought resonates as my husband and I relocate to a new state, living with my brother, in order to have better access to medical care. The love has always existed between the three of us. The differences of a new living paradigm cause me to draw more frequently from the well of silence, resulting in an overall smooth transition. Thanks be to God! <3 linda

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