Pastor's Reflection for the day

The love that God wants us to experience will remove our perceptions of “other.” But before we can experience this kind of love, we must confront the biggest challenge we will ever have; namely, to move beyond self. To live in the unconditional love to which God calls, us, we must look beyond our protective self -- the self that reserves the right to be respected and served. It is our defense of this inward self that is the primary obstacle to living in the unconditional love Jesus was referring to when he asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Jesus, in his question, presents to us a window through which we can see a new and divine love if we are honest enough to open our eyes to our limiting perceptions of self and “other” that stand in the way of God’s infinite grace.