You shall love your neighbor as yourself

Parish Service Day 2014 Reflections

 

This was the first opportunity I had to participate in a work day with Mid City and cannot have met a more deserving family.  My husband and I had the pleasure of working with Bill & his son Danny… what a wonderful and inspiring work team!  Danny cracked the whip and kept us all on our toes keeping the trash bags flowing and ensuring to point out any neglected debris to get it picked up. 

Working at the home of Joe and Marie was especially rewarding knowing they are both members of GSCC and deserving of our support.  Upon meeting Joe and Marie and kicking off our work day with Joe’s blessing and prayer, I knew I was in the presence of someone very special that shared the love of God and the blessed Mother as we do.  All through the day, Joe & Marie continued to express their gratitude for our support; little did they realize that it was us that received the true blessing of getting to know this beautiful couple and offer our help in such a little way.  While our work team was small, the impact of the day was mighty. 

Thank you for blessing us with meeting this beautiful and deserving family!

 

From “On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life.”

– St. Thomas Aquinas

 

The basic commandments is "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."…

First, it must be true love,…

Secondly, we must love our neighbor with an ordered love…

Thirdly, we must love our neighbors with a holy love,…

Fourthly, we must love our neighbor with an efficacious love,…

 

Today, my wife, daughter and I experienced the agape love that St Thomas is describing in the above quote. It’s not the first time we have experienced the Love of Christ demonstrated by our fellow parishioners, but surely one of the most physically demanding expressions as Vern, Sarah, Bill, Danny, Cheryl and David, arriving at 9:00 AM literally tore into a terribly overgrown back yard, clearing, clipping, binding up and carrying out to the what amounted to many sheaves and trash bags. They stopped for nothing until finished and the back yard looks like it was the product of a master landscaper.

Surely the underlying motivation was the true love of Christ reflected in these brothers and sister in Christ.

Their labor was well planned and executed, demonstrating the planning of the ordered love St Thomas listed as the second most important evidence of loving their neighbor as themselves.

Before they started, we all gathered in a circle to thank the LORD for sending them, for their protection, and success of their efforts – transforming a mere yard cleanup into a prayer: a holy love.

The efficacious love is in the final product. Our back yard is something to genuinely proud of. It now gives glory to the LORD in a way that I have not be able to effect since first getting ill over two years ago.

So, please let these few heartfelt words express our sincerest thanks to all who participated in the planning and execution this Day of Service, most especially those mentioned in the opening paragraph.

One more thing, not specifically mentioned by St. Thomas but surely implicit in his words: their loving attitude, loving courtesy and loving patience to the octogenarian recipients and our daughter.