I have said the words
__“I love you”
__to You and to my neighbor—
but do I really love?
Do I really put first
__others or self?
Am I patient and kind?
Or am I jealous, proud, ugly,
__irritable, bitter?
Have I yet learned
__not to be happy about injustice
__but to stand firmly with truth,
__to cover a multitude of sins,
__in hope and faith
__to give others the benefit of all doubt,
__to willingly endure suffering?
Lord, You know how short of such love
__my feeble love now falls.
You know too
__that it is because You first loved me
__that I love at all
__and that I want to love
__as I have been loved.
Fan the flickering flame
__in my heart
__so that in all I do
__I may reflect
__the measureless, endless,
__unspeakable love
__of Jesus Christ,
______________in Whose Name I pray,
_____________________Amen.