All You Need is Love

Last night, at my 14 year old's insistence and planning, I attended our parish mission. It was this priest, Fr. Larry.

It will be hard to sum up the richness of what he shared, the beauty of the Mass he said in a meager blog post. But I'll try...

We are called to love. And if we love we are going to die. In some big or small way, when we love, as Christ loved us, we die to ourselves. After all, the Eucharist cost Christ his very life. Do we really know this when we receive this great gift? Are we ready to lay down our life as well? We must forgive. Always. We Catholics, we are great at judging, but we are terrible lovers. God calls us to live a life of love. It begins in our families.

This home schooling big family life that God calls me to is not always easy. Plenty of opportunities to die.  Christ embraced his cross, carried it without complaining, stretched his arms out and died for love. Christ, the perfect Son of God. Will I willingly embrace every cross of this life He calls me to? A life that is really overflowing with grace and blessings.

So much grace last night! In the past weeks I have been really pondering why we home school. What do I want for my children? Now I know. I want them to know love. My imperfect human love and even more the perfect love of the Triune God. God blessed me last night and gave me a beautiful gift and a glimpse of His life in one of my daughter's souls.

At the prayers of petition, Father said that he would offer up this Mass for our personal petitions. He asked everyone to really think about what they need from Jesus. Carmen closed her eyes and then nudged me. "Mama, we should ask Jesus for something we want most in the world?" Yes I told her. She closed her eyes again. Curious, I asked her if she wouldn't mind telling me what she prayed for.

She answered, "To be happy with Him in heaven."