the beloved love
"Because you are God's chosen ones, holy and beloved..." —Colossians 3:12
The Lord commands us to be holy, merciful, kind, humble, meek, patient, forgiving, loving, peaceful, thankful, wise, and perfect as He is perfect (Col 3:12ff; Mt 5:48). We are able to do the humanly impossible and be the way God calls us to be because we are His beloved (Col 3:12). "We, for our part, love because He first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19).
The Lord commands us: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you and pray for those who maltreat you" (Lk 6:27-28). He commands us further: "Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Pardon, and you shall be pardoned. Give, and it shall be given to you" (Lk 6:36-38). We are able to reach out in love to our enemies and to have the heart of God because we are His beloved (Col 3:12). His love for and in us is stronger than death (see Sg 8:6). "Love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pt 4:8). "Love covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things" (1 Cor 13:7, our transl).
Beloved, love!
Prayer: Father, by Your grace I will love You forever with all my heart, and I will love everyone, even my enemies.
Promise: "Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through Him." —Col 3:17
Praise: St. Peter Claver left his homeland of Spain to spend the rest of his life serving those who had been captured in Africa and forced to serve as slaves in South America. For decades, he provided the arriving slaves with food, medicine, love, dignity, instructions in the faith, and baptism. He often said, "We must speak to them with our hands, before we try to speak to them with our lips."
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, February 22, 1999
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 24, 1999