Return to Love DevotionalSample

“I Love Being With You”

By Angel Muñoz

A Reading: Psalm 63

O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.

But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Reflection:

Joy is a precious commodity. It is both delightful and difficult to come by. Ahead of the shifting sands and turbulent realities that mark this moment, love and joy must be cultivated, and doing so is not always glamorous. It requires patience—stubbornness even—to cultivate joy and to keep it.

God calls out to those who are thirsty, aching, and assaulted by anxieties on every side and invites them to draw near. The invitation is not to ignore or suppress the hardships but to come as we are, with all our burdens, and allow God to meet us in our need. God assures us that the searching heart will be satisfied, sustained, and encouraged.

Joy is that gift that emerges from sustained closeness with God.

Sometimes, we slip into these encounters seamlessly, effortlessly drawn into the presence of the One in whom we find our refuge and our home.

On other days, our search can seem fruitless, like looking for water where there is none. God’s word to us is this: keep on asking, and it will be given to you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Simply put, pursue God.

Our days, cluttered as they may be, are woven with the evidence of Divine presence and activity. Often, through this practice of intentionality, we find that God is nearer to us than we could have ever imagined.

Joy at last. Not easily extinguished or taken away.

Lord, pour out your Spirit upon those depleted of praise and strength. Energize us. Shepherd us into your courts once more to dance and delight in You, in whom we are perfectly loved.

Breath Prayer

Breathe In: Open our eyes.

Breathe Out: To see you shining.

Amen.

Now is the time for us to return to love. Take action today and walk the way of love. Love the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, the impoverished. Take an afternoon to volunteer at your local food bank, tutor a young person at your church's youth center, or simply sit and listen to your neighbor's or an estranged family member's story. Let us love one another, and as we do so, we protect and cultivate the image of God on earth. Finally, beloved, cast your vote for the hungry, for the thirsty, for the immigrant, for the destitute, for the sick, and for the imprisoned. Cast your vote for love.

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