Our Vocation is Love

This week I have spoken with several friends who are worried.  They are worried about sick children, aging parents, and the political results.  They are worried about small business, climate change, about power outages, and in a very broad way about the values of the country in which our children will be adults.  These worries are very real, whether they are immediate or distant.  I was worried, too, and feeling quite powerless, or ineffectual, as I was driving my huge van in the snow this afternoon.  Then, through the intercession of the Holy Spirit, I looked down at my dashboard where, years ago, I pasted this stamp.  I did something sentimental, something I rarely do, I put my hand out and I touched the stamp, and I remembered:  We can do no great things, only small things with great love.  We are called to love.  Everyday, all the time.  Most of our readers are mothers, at home with children.  The New Evangelization happens in our homes, with our little acts of love.  This is how we will change the world.  I know that sometimes it looks bad out there, but we have to remember that Mother Teresa worked in a place where people were turning their sick relatives out in to the streets, she couldn’t solve all of the problems, but she could love one person at a time, and not only the church, but the entire world recognized her goodness.  We are not called to the streets of Calcutta, but our vocation, like hers, is love.  We need to keep at it, even when the challenges around us seem overwhelming.