Super Bowl ads – love ’em, hate ’em or don’t pay attention – or go out and refill the chips and salsa! I hope you were able to see the New York Life commercial, “Love Takes Action,” that takes viewers through the four words for love, as expressed by the ancient Greeks: philia, storge, eros, and agape.
The New York Life ad takes its inspiration from C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves, in which the Christian apologist identified four types of love mentioned in the Bible. While philia, storge, and eros are based on feelings, Lewis explains, agape, as it is presented in the New Testament, is a sacrificial love that comes about as an act of will rather than a response to emotions. As the greatest love of all, Agape represents the selfless love that God has for man and man has for God, and that every Christian should strive for, and is sometimes defined as charity/caritas….Enjoy.
One of the amazing stained-glass windows in our church is the triptych window of the Resurrection on the first Easter Sunday. It is a piece that takes its place in the gallery of Resurrection artwork across Christianity. Depictions and artwork that has graced the walls of catacombs of ancient Rome, as well as more formal works such as frescos, icons, illuminated manuscripts, altar pieces, Romanesque reliefs, sculptures and more. The Resurrection has been depicted by the great artists of the West: Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Annibale Carracci, Giotto, Titian, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, El Greco, Jan van Eyck, Raphael, and Michelangelo. 
I am not normally given to posting op-ed pieces from online sources. But there was an op-ed piece that caught my attention, more specifically, this:
The story of Abraham and Sarah is a story that should begin, “Against all odds….” It is a pretty amazing story of perseverance, endurance, and life lived for a mission greater than one’s self. Abraham and Sarah persevered and endured the long journey from modern-day Iraq to Israel on to Egypt and back to Israel. Even as the reached their older years, they continued to hope for a child of their own. They believed in the Lord’s promises even when his timeline was a whole longer than their timelines. They bore the hopes and expectations of all the people they led. Certainly, they lived out St. Paul’s message from 1 Cor 13:7 “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 
You know how it is. Someone begins a conversation with you by saying, “Now…. I don’t want you to worry.” I’m sorry, but they are only half way through the sentence and I am already worrying. They haven’t even gotten to the content, the topic, or any information and I am already asking “why, what, when, how, who.” I know they don’t want me to worry, but, sorry, that train has already left the station.
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:36-40) 
Jesus turns to his host, Simon and says, “So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.” – and later Jesus tells her that her “sins are forgiven.” When I ponder that short verse in the gospel, I have often pondered it as though it were a chicken and egg question. You know, which comes first love or forgiveness? I think the answer is, it depends.
The days of tribulation are upon us! Soon we will see those signs in the heavens. The sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light, stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken!! So, get your life in order! Say your prayers! Get right with God! And get on your knees because Jesus is coming!! 
