Love Is The Answer!
Some years ago, a kind of poll was conducted in which parents were asked, “If you had it to do all over again, would you have children?” Incredibly, seventy per cent of those who responded answered, “No. If we had it to do all over again we would not have children.” (One has to wonder what motivated that particular group of individuals to answer in a way so far outside of the norm). The editors of a popular religious magazine were deeply disturbed by these numbers. Perhaps the poll was flawed in some way, they reasoned. And so they decided to ask their own readers to respond to the same question. Whereupon, they were deluged with letters from parents who said, “Yes! We would do it all over again.” One letter, from a mother, read as follows:
Our nine-year-old daughter, Christine, is stubborn, incredibly bossy, and an unrelenting know-it-all. She requires ten minutes of super-salesmanship before she’ll brush her teeth or wash her face. She’s on the verge of having her bedroom condemned by the Board of Health. But even if I had a magic crystal ball ten years ago to let me see all this mess, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I would have done it all over again. Why? Love is the answer!
I have no doubt every parent here today would echo that feeling: LOVE IS THE ANSWER!
In today's Gospel Lesson, Jesus speaks to His disciples of Perfect Love -- the Perfect Model for our human relationships, the Perfect Family, the Divine Family: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "Everything the Father has is Mine," Jesus says (Jn. 16:15). And "When the Spirit of Truth comes He will lead you to the complete Truth" (Jn. 16:13). As a Christian community, we have the perfect model for living our lives in the Spirit of Truth, which is the Spirit of Love.
A teacher asked her third-graders to write about their personal heroes. One little girl brought her essay home and showed it to her parents. Her father was flattered to discover that his daughter had chosen [...]
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Stories you can use...
We've got a million of them (well, almost).
Superficiality
A larger than average man stepped on a scale not knowing it was out of order. The indicator stopped at 75 pounds. A little boy, standing nearby with his mother, watched the big man intently. “Whaddya know,” he marveled, “He’s hollow!”
Husband and Wife
Humorist Erma Bombeck has written: It gets tougher and tougher to sell my husband on the idea of going out in the evening. If we’re invited to a party, he wants to know before we get there when we’re coming home. If I suggest a movie, he wants to know in advance if he is going to like it. Then, if things don’t work out the way I said, he holds me personally responsible. What has happened to my madcap husband, who used to bounce around a dance floor like a ping-pong ball and in whose bathrobe pocket I once found confetti? He watches TV until nine o’clock and then starts to yawn. People tell me I should be flattered that he wants to stay at home with me. Of course I am, but — let’s put it this way: I always knew a man’s home was his castle. I just never thought my man would pull up the drawbridge at sunset.
Faith
Doubt sees the obstacles, Faith sees the way; Doubt sees the blackest night, Faith sees the day; Doubt dreads to take a step, Faith soars on high; Doubt questions, “Who believes?” Faith answers, “I!”
Family
I finally hit a jackpot last night, something I’ve been trying to do for weeks. I was just lucky, I guess. There was no meeting I absolutely had to attend, so I stayed home. For those who aren’t so fortunate, I can report that it’s a great experience. You get to play with the children, talk with your wife, read, and fall asleep in your favorite chair. I repeat, it’s great. Sometime I hope to have enough time to take up membership in the organization known as “The Home.”
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