How is it the end of October??? It’s almost even tougher to believe that the Season of Advent is almost upon us! Truth be told, I am looking forward to the promise of Christmas this year. I am looking forward to the joy of the season, and the greatest miracle ever in the birth of Jesus Christ. I am looking forward to hearing my children laugh with excitement as the decorations go up! I am looking forward to the Great I Am, being born! However, I don’t have to wait for the Christmas Season for this joy, because I need to start “today.” I need to truly believe that God is already alive in my heart and soul, and He will never abandon me. I need to live for the promise of today! Nothing is ever guaranteed, and we must realize that we are the one’s that have to open the doors to our heart, and allow His love to flow through us!
To me, this weekend’s Gospel reading, is one of the most powerful! Jesus confirms the greatest commandment is to love God, but He also gives a second commandment for us to fol-low: To love our neighbors as we love ourselves. How much do we really love ourselves? How much do we realize the power of loving ourselves? I am not talking about some nar-cissistic view that we are better than those around us, or that our thoughts are the only right thoughts, that our opinions are the only right ones. No, I am talking about loving who we are because God loved us first! Do you really know yourself? Have you ever taken the time to just live in the present? If someone asked you to describe yourself positively for 30 sec-onds, could you do it? Maybe there is so much chaos today because we are treating people like we treat ourselves. There is so much depression and sadness that it is no wonder the suicide rate is sky high! Drug use, obesity, and the list goes on and on of how we constantly try to forget about life. People always forcing their opinions on others, and the conflict con-tinues throughout our society.
Maybe, just maybe, if we allow ourselves to love we can change the environment around us. Maybe when we accept ourselves for who and what we are, we can better accept those around us. If your life is going in the wrong direction of anger and destructive behavior; ask God to change your heart. When you learn to love yourself it makes it easier to love those around you. When you allow yourself to trust in God you will find that trust will never lead you astray. How can you change your life today? Small steps, so that the bigger ones are easier to take.
Know this! You are a child of the One, True God, and He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to redeem each and every single one of us! As the Advent Season approaches, start preparing your heart and soul every single day to allow His Divine Mercy to “prepare the way of the Lord!” Let us pray for each other on this journey! Let us allow God’s love into our lives! Have an amazing adventure!