Tues., Jan. 5: 1 John 4:7-10; Mark 6:34-44

St. John Neumann, bishop

In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us.

When I hike in the woods, I often recall the instruction a retreat director gave when he sent his retreatants out to take in the beauty of the retreat center grounds. “Don’t even try to love the Lord,” he would tell them. His hope was that instead they would attend fully to the experience of being loved by God. To give love generously, as God does, we need first to know God, the starting place of all love. When we know deeply, in our bones, how very much our God loves us, our love for others is both natural and spontaneous.

*For deep, abiding knowledge of God’s love for us, we pray.