It’s In The Works

15 Mar

“The proof of love is in the works.  Where love exists, it works great things.  But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”  ~ Pope St. Gregory the Great

Clara Peller became famous in 1984 with the Wendy’s commercial in which she would enter other hamburger establishments and ask, “Where’s the beef?!”  That was Wendy’s way of saying that their hamburger had more beef than the competition.  The manner in which she drove to the burger restaurants got quite outrageous, e.g., Motorcycle Mama, but the question was always the same and, again, the question was designed to let people know that were were getting shorted if they went somewhere else.

We might be able to remake the Wendy’s commercials by having someone go to different “religious” establishments and say, “Where’s the love?!”  Some churches talk a good game, some churches raise a lot of money for their founders, and still other churches espouse a theology of wealth.  However, that’s not where love is to be found.  If we want to provide the answer to the question,”Where’s the love?”, we should say, “In the works.”

We cannot say that we believe in God’s love and that we are a people of love if we do not do good works.  It really is that definitive.  St. John wrote to his early community that we should not love with words or speech but in action and truth.

All this goes to remind us that, while we may have chosen to do many things during this Lenten season, our season will be quite incomplete if we have not decided to do good works.  All the prayer that we do, all the meditation and contemplation, all the praising and singing — they are all nothing if they do not provide a basis for good works

FAITH ACTIONProve your love for the Lord today in good works for others.

Do not forget:  Fridays of Lent are Days of Abstinence