Hooray, Rainy Day

I grinned as I ran through the downpour and up the steps thinking...how nice to be blessed by rain after such a long dry spell.  The church was almost empty for early morning Mass but that was to be expected with the inclement weather.  I shook off my raincoat and settled into my pew. The first reading caught my attention. 

 “Beloved, if God so loved us,

we also must love one another.

No one has ever seen God.

Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,

and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,

that he has given us of his Spirit.

Moreover, we have seen and testify

that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.

Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God remains in him and he in God.

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

In this is love brought to perfection among us,

that we have confidence on the day of judgment

because as he is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love,

but perfect love drives out fear

because fear has to do with punishment,

and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.” 1 John 4:11-18

Well…there you have it.  That explains why I’m still a bit fearful.  For me it is the “not so perfect love” that makes it a little scary, a little frightening and intimidating. 

Dear Lord Jesus,

Hold me near,

Drive out my fear.

Give me the correction,

That brings my love to perfection.

So on judgment day,

My fears are swept away.

Amen