A Nudge to Love

A Reflection on the Second Reading for August 8th, 2021:
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Ephesians
4.30 – 5.2

Brothers and sisters: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

God’s love is transformative, but that transformation comes with an invitation, not a sudden uno reverse sort-of-moment. That invitation is joined with teaching, reminders, and covered in grace. His grace re-writes our very human nature and makes us capable of becoming something more than what we are by instinct.


This transformation changes not just who we are inside, but how we should be outside. Even so, we need a nudge. A reminder. Even with the easiest relationships, those with our brothers and sisters in faith, God needs to remind us to be on the outside who we are on the inside. We are sealed for redemption, and yet still have to be reminded not to be filled with bitterness or spreading slander.


As I examine my conscience, do I find these words apply to me? Growing up with two brothers, who I love and who love me, I know the pattern of our relationship is very human. We would fight, tattle, and hold grudges. Then Mom would correct us, reminding us that we’re family and family acts better than that. And she was right. As a kid, I would take a bullet for my brothers — or more accurately, attempt to punch about my weight level in their defence. Sure, they bugged me like any brothers do, but only I could say that, not some punk on the school ground.


Our relationship with our adopted brothers and sisters is in many ways no different. We don’t choose who is our brother or sister, God does. Sometimes we get along, but there are always times when something about them will irk us. The thoughts cross our minds — I wish they wouldn’t prattle on during Mass; I can’t believe they wore THAT to church; imagine singing so loud and out of tune at the same time — and we don’t push them away or replace them with more loving thoughts. But if someone else says something about our brothers and sisters, we’ll fight in the Facebook comment section until they regret it.


But God isn’t calling us to a human experience of brotherhood and sisterhood, where we mirror or repeat the patterns of our childhood relationships. He’s calling us to cast off the burden of our bitterness and malice and instead invites us to be children after His own heart, full of kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness. This calling comes with the grace to actually do that. It’s not just a stern reminder to “be nice”, but instead the manner and the means in which to become a person who sees love before anger, or at least chooses love instead of anger.


To be imitators of God, we are invited to live in His love, and to not keep that love to ourselves, but rather to let it overflow from our cup into the cup of others, to make our love a daily offering.




Stephanie Potter

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