take courage, It is I, do not be afraid

All this week we are meditating on the First letter of John, and it is from this letter that Pope Benedict writes his first encyclical: Deus Caristas Est

Excerpt from today;s meditation of 1 John: "Beloved, If God loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God but if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us...."

Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI Deus Caritas Est

"We have come to believe in God' s love; in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life.

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words: "God so loved the word that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should...have eternal life." In acknowledging the centrality of love, christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The Pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might".

Jesus united into a single precept this commandment of loveof God and the commandment of love for neighbor found in the Book of Leviticus: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself".

Since God has first loved us, love is now no longer a mere "command"; it is a response to the gift of love which God draws near to us."

Something to think about; In the incarnation, in Jesus Christ, God becomes our neighbor. The love of God and love of neighbor coexist on the same plain.

The words of the gospel as Jesus approached the boat being tossed about where the apsotles react with fear and trepidation, Jesus says the following, "Take courage, It is I , do not be afraid."

This is the invitation for us to love, "take courage, It is I, do not be afraid." Here is the rallying cry of God to man as he spurs us onward to open our hearts and minds and let the revolution of true Love begin.

"Take courage, It is I, do nto be afraid."