Therefore, we seek to love all those to whom we are bound by ties of family or friendship. Our love for them increases, as our love for Christ grows deeper. We have a special love and affection for members of the Third Order, praying for each other individually and seeking to grow in that love. We are on our guard against anything that might injure this love, and we seek reconciliation with those from whom we are estranged. We seek the same love for those with whom we have little natural affinity, for this kind of love is not a welling-up of emotion, but is a bond founded in our common union with Christ.
A pebble arcs, and splashes in a pond,
and gentle ripples make their leisured way
towards the stone-clad edge. There they rebound
with textured patterns in their interplay.
The love that starts with kin and kindred spirits,
that first we know as babies at the breast,
must ripple out beyond familiar limits
if it is to reflect the love of Christ.
A pond, a lake, an ocean: there is space
for love to swell beyond the garden wall;
the interference patterns that we face
should cause us not to grieve, but relish all
the rocks and squalls and eddies of our lives:
the glory of the sea is in its waves.
No comments:
Post a Comment