HOW DO I LOVE THEE

Let Me Count the Ways

Praised be Jesus Christ! Readers will recognize the title of our post borrowed from the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But our counting of the ways of love has been done for us. The Merciful Jesus has offered us three ways to show merciful love and has enumerated them for us through his Secretary of Mercy, St. Faustina. Let us turn to the pertinent page in her Diary:

“I require you to make acts of mercy, which are to come from your love for Me. You are always and everywhere to show mercy unto your neighbors; you may not withdraw, excuse or absolve yourself from this. I am giving you three ways of performing mercy to your neighbors: first, by deed; second, by word; and third, by prayer; these three levels cover the full scope of mercy, and it is unshakeable evidence that a soul loves Me. This is how the soul praises and honors My mercy”(Diary 742).

Could Jesus make it any easier for us? I think not. Let’s expand upon these three ways or levels that cover the full scope of mercy.

The first way that Jesus offers us is to love by deed. The possibilities are endless. Let’s list a few: smile at someone we pass in the grocery store, open a door for someone as we enter or exit a restaurant, permit another driver to merge in front of us, bake oatmeal raison cookies, or help with landscaping and that is to name just a few deeds with which we might express love.

The second way is to love by word. In Matthew 24:35 Jesus informs us that “heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away.” Our own words can be somewhat of a keepsake in the hearts of others. We have the opportunity to speak words or comfort, forgiveness, hope, support, encouragement or exhortation. And more than at any other time in history, we have a plethora of means: the written word on paper, the electronic version of mail we call email, online chat, instant messaging, the cellular phone complete with Facetime, the spoken word seated on a bench or hiking through the Rockies (though we might be out of breath). And we might add the use of greeting cards which, though they normally come with words, there is always space to write our own.

The third way is to love by prayer. Prayers may be voiced anytime and anywhere. They may be spontaneous or formal as in the use of prayers we all know such as the Our Father or Hail Mary. We can pray for someone we know, someone who we have heard is in need of prayers, someone we observe but who we may never see again, or even a generic someone and someone who somewhere in the world needs the love of prayer. It’s sort of contagious!

You see, it’s as easy as one, two, three. How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways: in deeds, words, and prayers.

Thank you for making it so easy, Jesus!