TIMES OF REFRESHING
Fr. Ricky V. Ordóñez
*****
“Love one another!”
As I was ending my CPE program for Hospital Chaplaincy at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, our team, where I was the only Catholic, was asked to make a 15-minute presentation of our faith’s theology.
I was in a quandary as to how I can present several thousand years of Jewish faith and two thousand years of Christianity in such a short amount of time.
Fortunately, when lots were cast, I got the last slot – hmm, more time to figure this out.
My teammates presented the teachings of their faith with what seemed to me like “volumes” of arguments, quotations, etc. from their learned “theologians” to the point that I was so intimidated.
Back in the seminary, I sought out the Blessed Sacrament and asked the Lord for help. “You brought me this far, Lord! Please see me through!” was my prayer. And did He ever!
The central theme of my presentation came to me as this, “The Love for the other in response to God’s love.”
It was none other than the Lord who reminded me that His message for everyone is so simple and we may have “overthought” it and missed the point.
It is simply to give LOVE to one another – not only in words but also in deeds.
I remember that it took my teammates some moments to figure out that “Yes, it’s all about Love!” God’s love for us that reflects through us to others! Simple, right? Let us not philosophize something that is so basic – to love others as we love ourselves.
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