La Salette Bulletin April 29, 2023
840
La Salette Shrine of Enfield, NH
Dedicated to sharing the message of Our Lady of La Salette, and information about the shrine
Pray, learn and serve as a La Salette Lay person. This weekend, add your name to our list of those interested to "make my message known" as Mary asked at La Salette.#messageoflasalette #lasaletteassociates #lasalettelaity #lasaletteshrineofenfield #reconciliation #LaSaletteVocations #lasalettevocations
#lasaletteshrineofenfield #messageoflasalette #lasaletteassociates #lasalettelaity #LaSaletteVocations
When I was very young, I learned that my name means “little follower of Christ” and I got excited about my name. It had power. It meant something other than just who I was. That excitement about the meaning and power of a name continued as I learned stories about how things are named, and especially how names, words, change their meaning through time.When I read the Bible, I am very curious about what words were used to tell the stories in their original language and what they meant to the people who first heard them. How have we understood these stories, and their meaning over time? Do we still understand their intended purpose? So many stories Jesus told seem to have meanings we have no reference to today. How can we learn from a story if we don’t understand its meaning?
One of Jesus’ teaching moments includes telling his disciples that he no longer calls them slaves or servants. He thinks of them as friends. In the English that we .
speak, friend does not have any “deeper” meaning. And we all have friends and acquaintances that we do things with on a regular basis. But what was Jesus really telling the group who followed him? In languages that derive from Latin, Greek and even in German, “friend” means “one who loves”/ “one who is loved”. Wow. Jesus puts it right out there. We are no longer ignorant and subservient possessions who owe the duty of service to a master or employer. Rather, as he describes his relationship with us, we are connected, as a vine is one plant, and significantly, he says we now know how we are to live because he has been showing us by what he does and telling us by his lessons. He invites us to participate in his way of living so that “my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete” Jn 15:11 NIV because we love each other. Love is the action word of the Gospel. It compels us to be unselfish and live in peaceful relationship.
Love is powerful.
#lasalettelaity #lasaletteshrineofenfield #lasaletteassociates #lasalettevocation #LaSaletteVocations
