The sermon this morning was all about charity based on the Epistle, 1 Corinthians 13. Charity/love doesn't reside in the emotions, but is an act of the will and first involves our call to union with the source of all charity, God. Scripture tells us that God Himself is Charity/Love.
"God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him."
So the virtue of charity calls us to know God better, to embrace His will and to love others for the sake of God who created them in His own image and likeness. We can only grow in that virtue by knowing God better through reading scripture, adding good spiritual reading, and prayer. Our Lady who practiced charity better than any other person who ever lived, except for her Son, can teach us if we draw closer to her. "Am I not here and am I not your mother?" she said to Juan Diego.
Every one of us, if we are blessed with a faith-filled mother, learn our prayers on her lap and at her knee. She holds our hands together and teaches us the sign of the cross. "Lord, be in my mind, be in my heart, and give me strong shoulders to carry the cross." What a blessing! But even those who never had that blessing have our holy mother to teach us now.
Do you pray the daily rosary? She will lead you to her Son and teach you to "Do whatever He tells you," if you cling to her skirts like the little children we are called to be.
Let us grow in charity this Lent by learning from Mary and embracing the icon of charity, the Holy Cross.
Our Lady, Mother of help, teach us to love God and our neighbors as you did.
Our Lady of Charity, pray for us.
Lovely.
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