General:
- Glory to God in the Highest (published: Tabor Voice, Nov-Dec 2002; Divine Light, Dec 2003)
- Living in the Will of God (published: Tabor Voice, Jan-Feb 2003)
- What we should do this Lent (published: The Examiner, March 2003)
- Lost your reputation? Rejoice! (published: Divine Light, July 2004)
- The Potter & His Clay - A Spiritual Analogy
- Death on an Easter Sunday
- How Jesus saved us from the fire next door
- God isn't deaf
- Get on a Barnabus trip
- A Year Older and a lot less Wise (Part 1 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- He sang to me (Part 2 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- The Value of Intercession (Part 3 of the Birthday Trilogy)
- Do you want a FREE GIFT that can never be taken from you?! (Dec 2003 / Jan 2004)
- Love is in the air... (February 2004)
- Was it worth it all? (March 2004)
- I Confess... (April 2004)
- The Beautiful Blessing of Christian Fellowship! (May 2004)
- Power Evangelize! (June 2004)
- 'Best Friends' till the end (July 2004)
- Family Matters (August 2004)
- Do you know WHY you believe? (September 2004)
- You're going to be let down (October 2004)
- Praying with the Holy Pope (November 2004)
- Hang in there (December 2004) (published: Divine Light, Jan 2005)
- Just like that. And you're gone (January 2005)
- The Divine Lover of My Soul (February 2005)
- Is it ever "too late" to do right? (March 2005)
- To Emmaus, or back again? The choice is yours! (April 2005) (published:Divine Truth, April 2007)
- Bear Much Fruit (May 2005) (published: Divine Light, July 2005)
- Holiness and the Heart of Love (June 2005)
- Spiritual Boot Camp (July 2005)
- Abundant Life! (August 2005)
- Unanswered Prayers? (September 2005)
- Trust in the Lord! (October 2005)
- Persevere! (December 2005)
- New Resolutions this New Year (January 2006)
- 'Having it All' = Having Jesus (February 2006)
- He Understands (April 2006)
- My Invisible Tattoo (September 2006)
- Cardinal Justin Rigali ~ "Glorify God in Your Body" (October 2006)
- A Fattened Calf for me (December 2006)
- How to come out of a Spiritual Downward Spiral - Part 1 (January 2007)
- Jesus is Alive. Need Proof? ( October 2007)
- Biblical Catholics (November 2007)
- Religion or Spirituality? (September 2008)
- Lessons from the strange race between the Tortoise and the Hare (October 2008)
- How to react when Spiritual Leaders fall / backslide: (November 2008)
June 2005
Holiness and the Heart of Love
About three weeks ago as I sat at a party in Goa with some friends, I was happily busy clicking pictures... To my indignation, a waiter appeared at our table and asked me to take his picture. I was so taken aback by his brazenness (and not just a little annoyed) that first I pretended not to understand... "What?" I asked him. If I was being difficult, he didn't make it easier, repeating himself quite plainly.
By this point I was pretty riled and wanted to ask him, "Why should I take your picture??" I just looked at him with this incredulous look on my face before my friend next to me, pulled the camera out of my hand, saying "Melody, just make him happy, take the picture..."
Now this story is all about my friend. In my own self-righteous Pharisee-esq way, I consider myself "more holy" than he is. Yet my friend, who hasn't had a personal experience of God, who doesn't read the Bible, who doesn't even make it for Mass every Sunday reacted with more love than I did.
I believe after many years of studying, meditating and "doing" many things to get closer to the Lord, I had actually lost the very basic crunch. That it's all about love.
I have written time and time again in this column about the most important command being to love God & the second to love our neighbour. But the truth is that I don't always love my neighbour. Then how can I say I love the God I don't see, when I don't love the neighbour I can see?
These two commands then, go together. If we truly love God, we won't be able to help but love our neighbour. And to truly love our neighbour, we must love God.
Holiness, I believe is a result of union & indeed, communion with God. And if God is love, true holiness should make us exude love.
Mother Teresa was a living example of this. She loved God enough to sit for hours before the Blessed Sacrament every day, spending time with her beloved Jesus.... and then she proceeded to the dirty roads of Calcutta where she saw Jesus in every beggar, every leper and every shunned person. And she loved them, because she loved Him.
She proved that love proceeds from God alone. The more we are in union with Him, the more we can give out love to others.
I sit ashamed I as I type this out, that I had a chance to make a fellow human being, indeed a brother, happy... and I didn't. And that I judged my friend to be less holy than I was simply on a ritual-based scale. And indeed, who I am to judge on any scale, anyway?
People tell me all the time, how "good" I am and how "holy" I am. But God and I alone know the truth. Sometimes I feel, I am worst of all people, because I have experienced so much, and yet still hurt Him so much.
Thanks to His infinite, unconditional love however, all is not lost.
I am starting afresh, right at the bottom... with Christ, as my foundation. With His grace, I will draw closer to God & closer to my fellow beings.
I've never put a picture in this column before. But I thought it was appropriate to do so now. To pay my respects to a waiter whom I snubbed. And to my friend, who reminded me to have a heart of love.
Blessings on you all to develop this heart of love.
June 2005
