by Sister Madonna Swintkoske
"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." -- Sunday's Gospel, John 13:34
When we need to learn something new, we appreciate if someone shows us how to do it and just doesn't tell us what to do. We learn better by having someone show us. One of the reasons we are told rather than shown is that it's easier and faster. Showing how to do something requires time and effort. However, it is more effective.
For thousands of years, the Jewish people had the law telling them what to do and what not to do. But then Jesus came and he showed them how to live the life God had been telling them about all along. Jesus didn't just say, "Forgive others." He forgave us. He didn't just say, "Love God and your neighbors." He demonstrated love by His actions. Christ's perfect example of love shows how great God's love is for us. It also shows how we are to show His love to others.
chapter 15,
US Catholic Catechism for
Adults
by Sister Mary Kabat
Recall a baptism you have witnessed. Can you remember seeing and hearing the eight elements of Baptism? They are: the sign of the cross, reading from Scripture, exorcism and anointing, blessing of the water, renunciation of sin and profession of faith, pouring or immersion in water three times, anointing with sacred chrism, and reception of the white garment and candle.
Baptism seals our soul with a permanent "spiritual mark" that identifies us as belonging to Christ. That is why a person is baptized only once. But Baptism is not something that happens to us once and is done. Baptism is a call we must live out every day of our lives. It is a call to holiness which we live out through our life vocation and every circumstance of our daily lives. Like the Apostles, Jesus commissions us to embrace the call to transform the world with the light and power of the Gospel. Today, give witness to Jesus in all you say and do!
Sr. Madonna,
I appreciate your message of showing and telling. Jesus does send us to show love which is far more than words.
Thank you. How true it is. Thank you for making the comparison so clear.