Topic: Love

What are you most passionate about? If someone were to ask you about yourself, with what would you identify? Would it be the Church of Jesus Christ? Or is it some other organization or identity group which lays claim to your passions and desires? Everyone we meet falls into one of two categories – with Christ, or without Christ. May God fan that flame to burn within our hearts and stir us on to love our neighbor by sharing the Gospel!

Jesus told his disciples, “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). The Rev. Galloway challenges us to examine how far we fall short of this commandment and reminds us that love does not mean saying things people want to hear – it means telling the truth.

Our innermost desire is to be fully known and yet fully loved, and that can only be satisfied by the eternal love of God. No one can know you more fully, and love you more perfectly, than God can. You are not a creature of your own self-definition; rather, you are a being made in the perfect image of God, and therefore deserving of dignity from conception to final breath. Watch as the Rector celebrates the glory of Christ’s Resurrection.

Much has been said about the parable of the prodigal son, but the end of so many who teach this passage is to read themselves into the text and ask “which son are you?” While there is nothing inherently bad about this type of reading, the point of the passage goes much deeper than that. The Rector explains how this parable challenges us to be better ambassadors for Christ.

Christian marriage, for all its human imperfections, is the greatest representation of God’s love and joy for His people, lived out through Christ and His Church, and celebrated both temporally and eternally in the Holy Eucharist.

Saint Paul reminds us, “Faith, hope, and charity abide, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13). What do each of these three words mean, and why is charity (love) the greatest? Listen as the Rector answers these questions and explains why “charity” is a much deeper translation of this passage.

As the sexual revolution confuses male and female, and overtakes our schools and daily life, we will be forced to confront these issues increasingly within our families. The answer to sin and deviant behavior in our families, as a Christian, is not to bail on what you believe in. It is not to tell your neighbor what he wants to hear. The answer is to hold your ground in appropriate love. Are our families complicated? Absolutely. Will we see an increase in alternative lifestyles? Absolutely. But how will you be remembered? May others know that you belonged to Christ.

What is “the wisdom from above”? If there is anything lacking in the world today, it is Godly wisdom and openness to reason. The Rev. Galloway urges Christians to cultivate wisdom by clinging to the only things which will endure: Faith, Hope, and Love. Our neighbors are sick because they have no Hope. And because they have no Hope, they have no Faith. And without Faith, Love cannot abide, and other ideologies rush in to fill the vacuum. May Christians today boldly stand upon the wisdom from above!

For those who live in the United States, the ingredients of worldly happiness are right there in front of us. Almost anything we want can be ordered online and arrive at our doorstep in two days or less. We have access to all of humanity’s knowledge and information on our laps and in our pockets. And social media provides us a limitless release of dopamine and an endless supply of ideals to chase after. Ironically, none of these riches make us any happier. The more stuff we get, the more stuff we desire. So where is true happiness to be found?