Love Yourself, Too.

Today’s the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Find the Mass Readings here: 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 4, 2018

My takeaway:

When I hear the Great Commandment: “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself,” I can’t help but hear that as yourself part speaking to me loud and clear.

Should I love myself?

How should I love myself?

I think as Catholics, sometimes we get carried away when trying to practice humility, and we forget that it’s healthy to love ourselves. And we forget that God loves us with an infinite love. And we downplay our worth.

But I think we need to love ourselves well, before we can love our neighbor as ourselves.

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#MyMassTakeaway – The Great Commandment. What's the greatest commandment? Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. Love God and love your neighbor. Two great responsibilities to love. But there's a third love in there that we sometimes skip over. Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF. You have to love yourself. And not in a self-esteem, everybody gets a trophy kind of way. Not in a way that puts yourself at the center of your universe. You have to love yourself with a healthy love. With the kind of love God has for you. Do you recognize that you're made in the Image of God? Do you recognize and accept all the gifts and talents God gave you? Do you understand your worth? Do you know that God loves you unconditionally: no matter what, with an infinite and everlasting love? And that the thing he wants most for you is your eternal happiness? Love yourself this way. Love yourself more than seeking pleasure that passes away. Love yourself more than the false happiness that oreos and the snooze button and Netflix and sin bring. Love yourself with the love that inspires you to desire and work for heaven. Only when you love yourself this way will you be able to love your neighbor. And only love for God can inspire a healthy love for self. Do you love God above all else? Do you love yourself with a healthy love? Do you love your neighbor? This is the path to heaven. #mysundaybest #catholicsonline #catholicinspiration

A post shared by Sara Estabrooks (@tojesussincerely) on Nov 4, 2018 at 7:42am PST

Featured Five:

There are so many great posts to read today, over on Instagram. But these five really stuck out to me. I hope you’ll follow these wonderful accounts and the #MyMassTakeaway hashtag, too!

@Catholic_Pilgrim79

I love Amy’s reflection.

It’s almost like reading my own examination of conscience. My favorite thing is that each she follows up each failing with a prayer to do better.

It brought me a lot of peace to read today.

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"Love the Lord your God with all your heart." A thousand times, I haven't loved you with all my heart. Other loves take your place and fight for my attention all the time. In those times when I do love you with all my heart, those are the times when I know the most joy. I pray every day is an opportunity to love you with my whole heart. "…with all your soul," A thousand times, I've given myself over to things that push you out of my soul. I convince myself that those things will make me happy and I find incredible ways to rationalize my decisions and choices. In those times, when you flood back into my soul, those are the times when I feel peace, contentment, and wholeness. I pray every day is a chance to keep my soul open to light. "…with all your mind," A thousand times, I've let my mind worry and fall into distress. I seek the world's wisdom instead of yours. I feed my mind on negativity, ugliness, and surface-level useless stuff. In those times where I pray and read your Word, those are the times when the truths of life are most clear. I pray every day is a chance to grow in wisdom, understanding, and truth. "…with all your strength." A thousand times, I've followed you weakly. I haven't allowed you to make me strong. I've been cowardly and mediocre in my faith. In those times where I give you all my strength, I'm never stronger. I pray that every day, I push into courage. Have a beautiful, blessed Sunday, Catholic Pilgrims. #mymasstakeaway #catholic #catholiclife #catholicpilgrim #sunday

A post shared by Amy Thomas (@catholic_pilgrim79) on Nov 4, 2018 at 6:55am PST

@Mary_Haseltine

Mary’s post was extra special to me, because I’m preparing my 2nd grade religious education students to receive their First Penance in December.

They’re so scared, and that’s natural.

But I want them to see and understand the great gift of confession.

I want them to know the goodness of God, the relief of being washed completely cleaned, of your sins being gone forever.

We should be sorry for our sins, yes, absolutely. But we should never forget that God’s mercy is bigger than our biggest sins.

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There is no sinner beyond the reach of God's mercy. + There is no sin too vile, too secret, too big, too complex, or too old to be washed completely clean in His Blood. + There is no evil He cannot redeem. + This is the Gospel. + May my tongue be silent rather than ever forget Who this God is that I must love with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. + + + #sundayreadings #sundayScripturesnapshot #myMasstakeaway #Scripture #catholic #gospel #mercy

A post shared by Mary Haseltine (@mary_haseltine) on Nov 4, 2018 at 8:20am PST

@takeupandread

You know, it’s funny, this stuck in my head today, too.

I was singing it on and off, on our hike. God is so good, and it’s a beautiful day, and we were made to give him glory!

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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to people of goodwill. ⠀ 💫⠀ #takeupandread #FLOURISHstudy #flourishfotos #mymasstakeaway#catholic #amdg

A post shared by Take Up & Read (@takeupandread) on Nov 4, 2018 at 8:33am PST

@RakstarDesigns

I love Rakhi’s admonishment to love our neighbor even when it’s hard to do. To put ourselves in their shoes.

And the reminder that we can’t love God if we say we hate our neighbor. I usually think of it the other way around – love of God helps us love our neighbor. But she’s right, it goes both ways.

Excellent reflection, read it below!

Also, Rakhi’s art is just gorgeous – definitely check it out.

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Two things He asks: love God & love neighbor. The whole of every commandment boils down to these. The apostles later go so far to even say that you can’t say you hate your neighbor and love God. They are intrinsically related. • It’s hard work, this kingdom building. I have to look at another who makes my blood boil and somehow remember they are precious to God, created in His image. That doesn’t mean I have to like them. It does mean that I have to act and speak in a way that honors their dignity even if they spit on mine. • I’m also willing to bet that each of us at some point in our lives has been treated like the “other,” the one who doesn’t belong. We have two choices now. We can either grab tight to who/what is “ours” because dammit we worked hard and suffered to get here, or we can choose to remember that feeling of sadness, longing, and desperation when we were the outcast and extend a merciful hand. We can choose to remember that but for the grace of God we could still be the outcast here…and that He is always on the side of the marginalized. Always. • Gospel love is hard, but friends, we can do hard things with Jesus at our side and the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Go out there and love big.

A post shared by Rakhi McCormick (@rakstardesigns) on Nov 4, 2018 at 10:30am PST

@TheCatholicMama

Christine really touched my heart with her reflection about breaking the barriers of love. It’s so hard when there are things between us and our loved ones.

I’ve had some tough barriers to break through in my life. And man, it hurts so bad. Sometimes I think it’s just going to be the end.

But then, the thing that stands between us is gone. And our love is stronger than ever.

Time to break down those walls that stand between me and God. It may be hard, but so worth it.

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#mymasstakeaway “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today."-Deuteronomy 6:2-6 The father’s homily this morning at mass seemed to speak exactly to my prayer life right now. He spoke of love and how to truly love someone, there are barriers that must be broken – when you first fall in love, the barriers might be, as the priest said to the chuckles of the worshippers, like the windows his father had to climb through to get to his mother. And when it comes to loving the Lord, there are barriers that must be broken, too. …. .. These past two weeks have been filled with barriers that have become more and more visible the farther into these prayers I go, and luckily enough I’m finally putting my stubbornness to good use and am refusing to give in. Spiritual warfare? Maybe. A consecration worth completing? Most definitely. Because what is love with barriers? How can we fulfill Jesus’s first commandment to us if there are walls around our hearts? Ultimately to destroy those barriers we have to die to Christ over and over again, day after day. …. .. Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength -> means we need to give our heart to God, praise Him for creating us, and acknowledge how weak we are. Then we can lift our hearts to Him, fulfill our purpose and become stronger than anything we can imagine. …. .. #catholic #catholics #catholicism #catholicchurch #bissisterhood #catholicconnect #romancatholic #christianblogger #virginmary #BlessedMother #JesusisGod #Jesusislove #Godislove #HeavenlyFather #HolySpirit #HolyTrinity #momblog #mombloggers #sundaymass #christianmom #Jesussaves #bible #scripture #dailyscripture

A post shared by Christine Flynn (@thecatholicmama) on Nov 4, 2018 at 10:11am PST

Your turn:

I want to know your Mass Takeaway too! Comment with your thoughts on the readings, your pastor’s homily, or anything that struck you during your time at Mass.