It has given me great joy to find that your children have been living the life of truth.
When my granddaughter, Victoria, was a little girl she would get a cut or scrape and come to grandma or grandpa. She would get a kiss and a hug and of course a special band-aid with a cartoon character . Now the cut was never serious but the band-aid was the signal that all was better. Victoria is now twelve.
A couple of weeks ago I cut my finger and you guessed it. The only band-aid I could find was the last of those special band-aids. You would think people would make fun of me or give me a funny look. No ! They just figured that I was a grandpa and it went with the territory of a loving family.
Our first reading from 2 John says, To love is to live according to his commandments: this is the commandment which you have heard since the beginning, to live a life of love.
Jesus message is the same to us in 2020. He wants us to obey the commandments, but loving others. Loving others might be as simple as wearing a mask, social distancing and getting takeout instead of sitting down at restaurant table.
My wife, Anna, and I restarted going to church after the lockdown from the virus. We have enjoyed participating in worship for months now. Receiving the Eucharist and people were the thing we missed most. However , we have had significant increases in cases all over the country and especially in Oklahoma.
We have spoken and agreed to do our part. We have also accepted the fact that love might mean we worship remotely again. Our city has more and more COVID 19 cases. My daughter is a hospice nurse. She travels to nursing homes that have end stage COVID patients.
How do we obey the commandments and love remotely?
Jesus says the vultures will gather. The evil one is always around us. Earlier in Chapter 17 of Luke’s Gospel in the passage before says, Look, there it is or There it is For Behold, the Kingdom of God is among you. If we hunker down at home and only go out for food and necessities , how do we spread the Kingdom? Yesterday, Analise Mello wrote, “The Kingdom of God does not announce as a google advertisement flashing through my reflection or an Instagram post with filters and boomerang so we are made aware about the latest trend of wearing a rosary around our necks or kneeling at the church pews with masks and gloves!”
Our Gospel today says to be constantly prepared but even if that Kingdom does not appear to be there, don’t stop forgiving, loving and building the Kingdom of God on earth. God is in you. Even with empty chairs at your Thanksgiving holiday table. God is there with you. Contact your loved ones by any means available.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
