She Has Shown Great Love

Many of you know the story: Jesus is dining at one of the Pharisees house. And a woman in the city, "who was a sinner", stood behind Jesus at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet in ointment. As those in the room begin to judge this woman and Jesus in the process, Jesus says, "She has shown great love."

I am struck by those words. I desire to live my life with that one statement in mind, "She has shown great love." I suppose that is why I have always been struck by these words by Mother Teresa:

I have been trying the prayer practice of the Examen. This gives me an opportunity to look for God's presence in my day. I can show gratitude for all the blessings and moments where God was present. (For information on how to pray the Examen, you can click here.) It also gives me an opportunity to look for times in my day when I needed grace, when I did not show great love. And there are so many...I judged this person by looks alone, I was gossiping with my co-workers, I barked at my children because they interrupted me scrolling through my facebook news feed...

But then there are the glimpses of love...I washed the dishes left in the sink at work, a friend wrote me a sweet note, I witnessed a mother see her baby hear for the first time. Great love- it comes sometimes in the big things, but more often in the small.

So today I begin a new practice. In my morning quiet time, I will picture those I most likely will come in contact with during the day. I will begin to put energy toward showing them love even before I see them for the first time. I know I will still need much grace. But I also hope that at the end of the day, I can smile remembering the times that I have shown great love.