LÖHE ON JOHN 13:34

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

IX on the crossJesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (Joh 13:34 NIV)

Watch the Lord going down from Galilee to Jericho and from there upwards toward Jerusalem. That is his goal and the place of his suffering, crucifixion and death. That is where Golgotha is and there he will bring the ultimate sacrifice of most holy love. It’s a passage of sacrifice and propitiation, but it is also the way of supreme love. Love is the ruling empress in this suffering, death and burial. It’s love that brings him to utter: “It is done. It is fulfilled. It is accomplished!” Love let’s his eyes fade, breaks his heart and pours out his life-giving blood, shed for many for the forgiveness of sins + Love prepares him for the resurrection. Love reunites him with his loved ones and ultimately with the Father and the Holy Spirit in blessed trinity and undivided  unity. Love fills out the forty days he spends again with the disciples after the resurrection. Love carries him heavenward, love rules and he is nothing but love in both action and being as he rules with all authority in heaven and on earth. His walk is love and he is pure love.

And we? What about us? Can we let that pass us by in this Lenten tide without being gripped by his love and passion? Without waking up to follow him in faithful discipleship and dedicated obedience, trust and love as we see him, who loved his own till the very end? Can we hate, be angry, envious and lead self-centered lives while the King of Glory is consumed by his exemplary love to us and passion for all the world?  Is there nobody, who will prepare him-/herself lovingly to follow him all the way to the cross and be with him until the end this Lenten tide? Is it not well nigh impossible to remain without love and passion in this precious and most treasured time of commemoration and contemplation, when our highest majesty, our Lord God Jesus Christ, proclaims his love and passion to us in word and deed?

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O loving God! Do you hear the panting of desire o Lord? Do you see the passionate tears shed for you and in the burning desire that you would enter in and make a dwelling in us? You have been marked by painful wounds of suffering and punishment. Hear us and in this time of commemoration fill us with your holy love and passion. Amen (Wilhelm Löhe)

O love of my love, you desired bliss and salvation! In purest passion you offered yourself as the impeccable lamb to be slaughtered in most despicable misery and suffering for us and our salvation. You paid the sacrificial ransom with your precious blood and made up for all the evil in this world with your innocence and perfect goodness.

O love of my love, with a strong heart and determined will you suffered all shameful humiliation. No fear or pain, not even deaths threat and hardship could dent your love for us. Lovingly you showed yourself – powerful and enduring, lovingly you remained throughout until the very end, when you gave up your soul into the hands of the loving Father. (Elisabeth von Senitz, 1629-1679. The translation is rather more literal than poetical)

Translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Friday after the Sunday Estomihi (Last Sunday before Lent) as found on Pg. 115 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and puplished in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Friday, the 15th February 2013

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

feetYou will go out in joy and be led forth in peace! (Isaiah 55:12 NIV)

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. (Luke 22:35 NIV)

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LÖHE ON 1.CORINTHIANS 13:13

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

love of ChristAnd now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1Co 13:13 NIV)

When faith sees what it has believed it supersedes being faith. Hope is transcended when that what was hoped for is realized and fulfilled. Love however remains an essential component of eternal life, which stays forever amongst those, who have been gifted with its joys and pleasures. It does not fade in the valley of death nor does it diminish at the sight of the living God. Rather it is God’s own image in the beholder and in it we once again find the restoration of all that sin and evil stole, hid and destroyed in ages gone by. That’s the magnificence and permanence of love. If the Apostle Paul calls love greater than the other divine gifts and if he admonishes us in the next chapter and verse to follow the way of love (1Co 14:1 NIV), then we wholeheartedly concur with him, jump up from our lazy seats and continue to pursue the ways of love until we have attained its completion in triumph and victory.

O Lord, let us recognize true love and from your abundance grant it in richest measure to us by your wonderful mercy. That love which you have allowed to be born and come to fruition in our hearts, fulfil within us, but only in your time and eternally. O Lord, let us reach there finally and at last let us be satisfied and fulfilled by your love. Amen. (B. Albrecht)

O highest joy by mortals won, True Son of God and Mary’s Son, Thou high-born King of ages! Thou art my heart’s most beauteous Flow’r, And Thy blest Gospel’s saving pow’r My raptured soul engages. Thou mine, I Thine; Sing hosanna! Heav’nly manna Tasting, eating, Whilst Thy love in songs repeating.

Now richly to my waiting heart, O Thou, my God, deign to impart The grace of love undying. In Thy blest body let me be, E’en as the branch is in the tree, Thy life my life supplying. Sighing, Crying. For the savor Of Thy favor; Resting never, Till I rest in Thee forever.

Oh, joy to know that Thou, my Friend, Art Lord, Beginning without end, The First and Last, Eternal! And Thou at length–O glorious grace!– Wilt take me to that holy place,The home of joys supernal. Amen, Amen! Come and meet me! Quickly greet me! With deep yearning, Lord, I look for Thy returning. (Phillip Nicolai, 1556-1608 translated by Catharine Winkworth)

Translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Thursday after the Sunday Estomihi (Last Sunday before Lent) as found on Pg. 114 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and puplished in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Thursday, the 14th February 2013

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

jumping_joy

Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. (Jeremiah 31:13 NIV)

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2Corinthians 4:17 NIV)

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LÖHE ON 1.CORINTHIANS 13:8

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Corpus ChristiLove never ends. (1Co 13:8 ESV) Obviously! How could it be different? What more should come of love? What higher status could it attain? No, there is nothing higher or more beautiful than love. Love never ends, doesn’t give way for something better, doesn’t change, mutate or develop into something more. It’s more like heaven on earth already. However in eternity it will no longer be stained by sin, all handicaps and shortcomings due to this iniquity that we struggle with here, will be overcome there just as all obstacles, impediments or complications due to the evil lustre and inclination will at last fall away and be no more. Love at last will be perfectly pure just as God intended it to be. Then all partial knowledge will be complete, all prophesy will end as they will be fulfilled and even the different languages will cease as we praise our God in one voice and tongue. Love however will outlive all of these drastic and radical changes. It will move with us into eternity – fulfilled, perfected and finally absolutely pure. Love will continue to love, whom and what it has loved before. It does not shift the focus of its alliance, bond and blissful union. It is faithful and on entry into Paradise and on perceiving the Lord in all his glory will not forget its previous associations, but just as the Lord does not forget those that are his, love too will remember these. In all the light and glorious divinity the love for our brothers and sisters will continue in unchanging patience and mercy as before. In God our Lord love recognizes and experiences all the glory of paternal love. In the transfigured Saviour it recognizes the eternal King of Kings and most holy High Priest in whose optimal rule and sacrificial priesthood in heaven and on earth the entire magnitude and excelling realization of holy love for those that are his is shared in unison and thus all is joined with and in him to the perfection of all love, that begins and ends in him. He being all in all – the very essence and being of love.

Lord, our God! All love that has started to flourish in our hearts here on earth is so limited. Sometimes the love in us has grown weak, lame and even died.  Your love alone is that great stream that never ceases nor dries up. We thank you, that you have visited your Church in great mercy and that your holy word continues to prove itself mightily in many a heart and soul all over the world and through the ages. We praise you for all the patience, forbearance and faithfulness, which you show towards your people even though millions don’t thank you for it. Let your efforts with us not be in vain, but rather let them boost love amongst us and between those, whom you have joined in families, friendships, societies and nations – especially to the poor and miserable, the needy, outcast and lost and those, who despise, hate and persecute you and your Church. O help us to be faithful and dedicated o Lord and let us practice your love without tiring. Amen. (P. Wurster)

Translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Wednesday after the Sunday Estomihi (Last Sunday before Lent) as found on Pg. 113 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and puplished in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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Herrenhuter readings for Wednesday, the 13th February 2013

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Kniebank SolideNow the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. (1.Samuel 1:27 NIV)

Jesus said: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24 NIV)

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Mekane-Yesus-Kirche: Bruch mit ELCA und Staatskirche Schwedens

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Mekane YesusAddis Abeba, 12.2.2013 – selk – Wie aus einer Pressemeldung der äthiopischen evangelisch-lutherischen Mekane-Yesus-Kirche (EECMY) vom 11. Februar hervorgeht (EECMY_ELCA_and_Cos), hat die 19. Generalsynode der EECMY am 11. Februar den Abbruch der Partnerschaftsbeziehungen zur Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche von Amerika (ELCA) und der Staatskirche von Schweden beschlossen. Der Synodalbeschluss wird damit begründet, dass die beiden Hauptpartner der EECMY bereits seit 2006 Entscheidungen getroffen hätten, die homosexuelle Praktiken begünstigten und die kirchliche Segnung gleichgeschlechtlicher Partnerschaften ermöglichten. Die Bitte der EECMY, diese Entscheidungen zu überdenken, seien von den amerikanischen und europäischen Partnerkirchen nicht gehört worden. Stattdessen hätten die beiden Kirchen die Legalisierung gleichgeschlechtlicher Partnerschaften als Ehen vollzogen und die Möglichkeit beschlossen, Homosexuelle in das Amt der Kirche zu berufen. Auf der Basis einer theologisch-biblischen Studie, die auch rechtliche Aspekte sowie den äthiopisch-kulturellen Kontext berücksichtigt, habe die 19. Generalsynode sich nun gezwungen gesehen, die bestehenden Partnerschaftsbeziehungen zur ELCA und der Kirche von Schweden abzubrechen. Wie es in der Presseerklärung abschließend heißt, sei man dankbar für die langen und fruchtbaren Beziehungen zu den beiden Kirchen und schätze deren historischen Beitrag zur Mission. Man werde weiterhin dafür beten, dass die Beziehungen eines Tages wiederhergestellt würden. Die EECMY hatte den Abbruch der Beziehungen gegenüber der ELCA und der Kirche von Schweden bereits vor einem Jahr für den Fall angekündigt, dass die Entscheidungen zur Homosexualität nicht rückgängig gemacht würden.

Die Mekane-Yesus-Kirche ist aus Reformbewegungen innerhalb der äthiopisch-orthodoxen Kirche und aus der Arbeit lutherischer Missionen aus Schweden, Deutschland (Hermannsburger Mission, heute: Evangelisch-Lutherisches Missionswerk in Niedersachsen), Norwegen, Dänemark und den USA hervorgegangen. Der Name „Mekane Yesus“ kommt aus der äthiopisch-orthodoxen Kirchensprache, aus dem Ge’ez, und bedeutet: „Der Ort, an dem Jesus wohnt.“ Die EEMCY ist in 21 Synoden (Kirchenbezirke) und zwei Spezialorganisationen aufgeteilt und umfasst 6.644 Gemeinden sowie 2.818 Predigtplätze (Stand: 2009). Sie zählt mehr als 5,8 Millionen Kirchglieder und ist nach der Staatskirche von Schweden damit die zweitgrößte lutherische Kirche weltweit. Sie gehört zu den am schnellsten wachsenden Kirchen. Zu den Partnerkirchen der EEMCY zählt auch die Lutherische Kirche–Missouri Synode (LCMS) in den USA, eine Schwesterkirche der Selbständigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (SELK). Die LCMS und die EEMCY unterzeichneten bereits 2010 eine entsprechende Partnerschaftsvereinbarung. Der LCMS, die in verschiedenen äthiopischen Kirchenbezirken auf den Gebieten der Evangelisation, Gemeindegründung sowie auch in der Flüchtlingshilfe aktiv ist, möchte die EEMCY insbesondere auch dabei unterstützen, ein konfessionell-lutherisches Verständnis kirchlicher Identität auf der Basis der Treue zur Heiligen Schrift zu entwickeln.
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Excerpts from the Apology

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Melanchton Apology

Melanchton writes in his foreword: “I have instead assembled their principal arguments in order to bear witness to the entire world that we hold to the gospel of Christ correctly and faithfully. We take no pleasure in discord, nor are we unaware of our danger, the extent of which is evident from the bitter hatred inflaming the opponents. But we cannot surrender truth that is so clear and necessary for the church. We believe, therefore, that we must endure difficulties and dangers for the glory of Christ and the good of the church. We trust that God approves our dutiful action, and we hope that posterity will judge us more equitably. For neither is it possible to deny that we have brought to light many topics of Christian teaching that the church desperately needs.” (Kolb & Wengert: 110,15-17)

Concerning original righteousness and original sin: “We have said nothing new here. The traditional definition, rightly understood, says precisely the same thing when it states, “Original sin is the absence of original righteousness.” But what is righteousness? … Thus original righteousness was intended to include not only a balanced physical constitution, but these gifts as well: a more certain knowledge of God, fear of God, and confidence in God, or at least the uprightness and power needed to do these things.”  (ebd. 114,15-18)

And a bit further down: “Knowledge of original sin is a necessity. For we cannot know the magnitude of Christ’s grace unless we first recognize our malady. The entire righteousness of the human creature is sheer hypocrisy before God unless we admit that by nature the heart is lacking love, fear, and trust in God. Thus the prophet says [Jer. 31:19], “And after I was discovered, I struck my thigh.” Again [Ps. 116:11], “I said in my consternation, ‘Everyone is a liar,’ ” that is, they do not think rightly about God. The German translation adds, “As Christ says in Matthew 9[:12] and Mark 2[:17]: ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician.’ ” (ebd. 117,33f)

“But if the opponents contend that the “tinder of sin” is a neutral matter, they will contradict not only the many statements of Scripture but clearly the entire church. Even if a perfect consensus is not attainable, no one would dare say that the following things are neutral: doubting the wrath of God, the grace of God, and the Word of God; being angry with the judgment of God; being indignant that God does not rescue us immediately from afflictions; grumbling that the ungodly experience more good fortune than the upright; being stirred up by rage, lust, desire for glory, wealth, and the like. And devout people acknowledge that these things are present in them as the Psalms and the prophets make clear. In the schools, however, they have taken over from philosophy the completely alien notions that our passions make us neither good nor evil, neither praiseworthy nor contemptible.42 Again, they say that nothing is sin unless it is voluntary.43 These statements in the philosophers speak about the judgment of civil courts, not about the judgment of God.44 It is no wiser to say, for example, that “nature is not evil.” In its place, we do not object to this statement; but it is not right to distort it for the purpose of trivializing original sin. And yet these things are said among the scholastics who improperly mingle philosophical or social ethics with the gospel. These things were not simply debated in the schools, but, as often happens, instead of remaining purely in academe these ideas spread among the people where they prevailed and fostered trust in human powers and suppressed the knowledge of the grace of Christ. Therefore, when Luther wanted to expose the magnitude of original sin and human weakness, he taught that the remnants of original sin in the human being are not in their essence neutral, but need both the grace of Christ, so that they might not be held [against us], and also the Holy Spirit, so that they might be put to death.” (ebd.118,42ff Highlight WW)

“The deficiency and concupiscence are both penalty and sin. Death and other bodily ills, together with the tyranny of the devil, are penalties in the proper sense. For human nature is enslaved and held captive by the devil, who deceives it with ungodly opinions and errors and incites it to all sorts of sins. However, just as the devil is not conquered without Christ’s help, so we, by our own powers, are unable to free ourselves from that slavery. World history itself shows how great is the strength of the devil’s rule. Blasphemy and wicked teachings fill the world, and in these bonds the devil holds enthralled those who are wise and righteous in the eyes of the world. In others even greater vices appear. But since Christ was given to us in order to bear both these sins and penalties as well as to destroy the reign of the devil, sin, and death, the benefits of Christ cannot be recognized unless we understand our evil. Therefore our preachers have diligently taught about these matters, and in the process they have said nothing new. Instead they have set forth the Holy Scripture and the statements of the holy Fathers.” (ebd. 119,47-50)

And finally: “For we know that we believe rightly and in agreement with Christ’s church catholic.” (ebd. 120,51)

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SELK-Bischof würdigt das Pontifikat Benedikts XVI

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Benedikt XVIPapst Benedikt XVI. verzichtet auf sein Amt. SELK-Bischof würdigt das Pontifikat Benedikts XVI.

Rom/Hannover, 11.2.2013 – selk – Papst Benedikt XVI., Joseph Ratzinger, der am 19. April 2005 vom römischen Kardinalskollegium zum Bischof von Rom und damit zum Papst gewählt worden war, legte am heutigen 11. Februar gegen Mittag aus gesundheitlichen Gründen sein Amt nieder. Die Amtsniederlegung und damit die Sedisvakanz tritt mit Wirkung des 28. Februar um 20 Uhr in Kraft.

Ratzinger wurde am 16. April 1927 im bayerischen Marktl geboren und war vor seiner Wahl zum Oberhirten der römisch-katholischen Kirche zuletzt Dekan des Kardinalskollegiums sowie seit 1981 Präfekt der vatikanischen Glaubenskongregation. Zuvor hatte Ratzinger als Theologieprofessor an der Universität Regensburg und seit 1977 als Erzbischof von München und Freising gewirkt. Römisch-katholischem Verständnis zufolge galt Benedikt XVI. als der 265. Nachfolger des Apostels Petrus.

Nach vatikanischen Angaben wird der bisherige Papst in einem Karmelitinnen-Kloster im Vatikan seinen Ruhewohnsitz nehmen und sich dort dem Gebet und theologischen Studien widmen. Es sei keine akute Erkrankung gewesen, die den Papst zum Rücktritt veranlasst habe, sondern allgemeine altersbedingte Schwäche, hieß es aus dem Vatikan.

Die Amtsniederlegung ist keineswegs die erste in der Kirchengeschichte: Bereits im Jahr 235 verzichtete Pontianus auf den römischen Bischofstitel. Papst Coelestin V. legte 1294 aus Gründen der Überforderung sein Amt nieder. Dass auch Päpste ihr Amt zu Lebzeiten niederlegen können, ist im Übrigen kirchenrechtlich vorgesehen und geregelt. Canon 332 § 2 besagt: „Falls der Papst auf sein Amt verzichten sollte, ist zur Gültigkeit verlangt, dass der Verzicht frei geschieht und hinreichend kundgemacht, nicht jedoch, dass er von irgendwem angenommen wird.“

Da das Papstwahlkollegium, das Konklave, nach kanonischem Recht frühestens am 15., spätestens am 20. Tag nach Eintritt der Sedisvakanz zusammentreten muss, wird mit einem Beginn des Konklaves zwischen dem 15. und 20. März gerechnet. Der Nachfolger des bisherigen Papstes könnte damit bereits im März um die Osterzeit feststehen.

Papst Benedikt XVI. zeichnete sich auch während seiner Amtszeit vor allem durch seine tiefe theologisch-philosophische Gelehrtheit aus. Auch als Papst veröffentlichte er mehrere Bücher zum Thema „Jesus Christus“, die weit über die römische Kirche hinaus auf große Anerkennung stießen. Insbesondere die christozentrische Theologie Joseph Ratzingers brachte ihm auch Sympathien bei Lutheranern und Protestanten ein.

Der Bischof der Selbständigen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (SELK), Hans-Jörg Voigt (Hannover), bekundete gegenüber selk_news Respekt vor der Entscheidung des Papstes. Benedikt VXI. habe immer wieder zu wichtigen Themen Positionen bezogen, die denen des konfessionellen Luthertums durchaus nahe stünden. So habe der Papst beispielsweise im Rahmen des ökumenischen Wortgottesdienstes im Augustinerkloster Erfurt im September 2011 angemahnt, bei ökumenischen Begegnungen „nicht nur die Trennungen und Spaltungen zu beklagen, sondern Gott für alles zu danken, was er uns an Einheit erhalten hat und immer neu schenkt“. Diese Zugangsweise, so Bischof Voigt, sei für die Ökumene konstruktiver als die Fixierung auf das noch Trennende und die Forderung kirchlicher Einheit, die die Wahrheitsfrage vorschnell überspringen oder ganz ausklammern möchte.

Der Bischof der SELK, der an der ökumenischen Begegnung 2011 in Erfurt teilgenommen hatte, erinnerte auch daran, dass Benedikt XVI. damals persönlich würdigende Worte für den Reformator der Kirche, Martin Luther (1483-1546), fand, die, so Voigt, den Kern der reformatorischen Bewegung deutlich besser trafen als manches, was heute im Zuge von „Luther 2017“ dem Reformator untergeschoben werde. Der Papst habe in Erfurt zu Recht darauf hingewiesen, dass für Luther die Frage „Wie kriege ich einen gnädigen Gott?“ hinter allem theologischen Suchen und Ringen des Reformators gestanden habe. Der Papst 2011 in Erfurt: „Dass diese Frage die bewegende Kraft seines ganzen Weges war, trifft mich immer neu. Denn wen kümmert das eigentlich heute – auch unter Christenmenschen? Sofern man heute überhaupt an ein Jenseits und ein Gericht Gottes glaubt, setzen wir doch praktisch fast alle voraus, dass Gott großzügig sein muss und schließlich mit seiner Barmherzigkeit schon über unsere kleinen Fehler hinwegschauen wird.“ Das Böse, so Benedikt XVI., sei jedoch keine Kleinigkeit. Luthers brennende Frage müsse deshalb in neuer Form auch zur Frage dieser Zeit werden.

Die Lutherische Theologische Hochschule der SELK (Oberursel bei Frankfurt/Main) und das ökumenische Johann-Adam-Möhler-Institut der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (Paderborn) haben seit 2007 eine Konsultationsreihe durchgeführt, die im Jahr 2010 zunächst mit einem Abschlussbericht endete, der die bisherigen Gespräche positiv würdigt und eine Fortsetzung in Form eines theologischen Dialogs auf internationaler Ebene zwischen dem Vatikan und dem Internationalen Lutherischen Rat (ILC), in dem die konkordienlutherischen Kirchen weltweit zusammengeschlossen sind, empfiehlt. Der ILC hat dem Vorschlag mittlerweile zugestimmt.

Der Abschlussbericht der ersten Gesprächsreihe wird auch Beratungsgegenstand des 12. Allgemeinen Pfarrkonvents der SELK sein, der vom 17. bis 21. Juni in Berlin stattfinden soll.

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LÖHE ON 1.CORINTHIANS 13:4-7

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Wilhelm Weber

Love of GodLove is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1Co 13:4-7 NIV)

The apostle qualifies love as essential to all true gifts and good practices of people and states, stating categorically that without it there remains but a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. With it however all gifts and doings appear lovely and even honorable and dear. Love is the mother of all virtues, which can be summarized under the headings of humility and sacrifice for the brethren. Verses 4-7 elaborate this virtuous love that humbly is at peace with itself and sacrificially offers itself for others.

Living for the other, working for his/her benefit and good, finding joy in his/her joy and happiness, striving for his/her eternal salvation, desiring no own delight, but that of the delighted other, aiming at no glory for oneself, but rejoicing that all glory belong to others and being entirely content and satisfied in Christ’s gracious gift of salvation and being in blessed fellowship with him and at peace in godly union: That is the nature of love and thus shines its most beautiful splendor.

Jesus, give me love for my siblings and others, which is not just talk, but is practiced every day and goes from the bottom of my heart.

Love is the sign designating Jesus’ true disciples; where it reigns, it unites separated hearts.

Love covers a multitude of sins and always serves to correct being never too harsh or strict, but rather lenient and kind.  

Love tolerates all even if it means enduring harm and injustice, it forgives debt and injury as it is focused solely on Christ Jesus. 

Love does not tire even if strained to the limit, seeks and grants peace, serves with word and wisdom.

Love will never stop, but will reach into eternity. There no enemy will disrupt it anymore, there it will be perfection fulfilled.

Therefore, Jesus, grant me love inspired and infused by your Spirit. Love practised daily and from the very bottom of my heart.  (Author unknown and the translation is rather literal than poetic)

Translation of Wilhelm Löhe’s devotion for Tuesday after the Sunday Estomihi (Last Sunday before Lent) as found on Pg. 111 in Lob sei Dir ewig, o Jesu!   (Eternal Praise to you o Jesus!) edited by A. Schuster and puplished in the Freimund Verlag, Neuendettelsau 1949.

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