SOCL, Easter5C

Sunday May 18, 2025

See

We excel at performative connection—masters of the visible metrics while our souls starve in isolation. Our phones buzz with notifications while our hearts ache with absence; we count followers while feeling fundamentally unseen. The digital age has perfected the illusion of intimacy without its substance.

The revolutionary command to love isn't about warm feelings but costly presence. True connection requires precisely what we fear most: vulnerability that risks rejection, attention that sacrifices efficiency, and commitment that transcends convenience. We've constructed elaborate systems to appear connected while remaining fundamentally untouchable.

The path forward isn't found in perfecting our presentations but in surrendering our protections. Like water that can only nourish by being absorbed, love only transforms when we allow ourselves to be changed by the encounter. Our greatest fear—being truly known—remains our deepest hunger.

Listen

Acts 14:21-27; Psalm 145 (144); Apocalypse 21:1-5; John 13:31-35

Reflect

(John 13:31-35)

Consider a relationship where you maintain careful distance—where you've chosen safety over vulnerability, efficiency over presence, or control over surrender. What walls have you built to protect yourself from the mess of authentic connection?

Jesus challenges us to measure our love not by comfortable emotion but by uncomfortable action. How might your relationships transform if you loved as he did—with a willingness to be inconvenienced, even wounded, for the sake of genuine presence?

Reflect on one small step toward authentic connection you could take today: a difficult conversation you've avoided, a boundary you've hidden behind, or a person you've kept at convenient distance. What single act of presence might begin to shift everything?

Pray

Lord,, you know us more deeply than we know ourselves. Dismantle our carefully constructed barriers to authentic connection. Transform our fear of vulnerability into courage for true presence. Teach us to recognize the sacred invitation in each uncomfortable encounter, finding you in the faces we've learned to avoid. Make us vessels of your revolutionary love in a world starving for genuine communion.