Provoking One Another to Love and Good Works

I was struck this morning by these words in today's first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews.

"Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. We must consider how to provoke one another to love and good works."

Sometimes it is so very hard to hold on to hope, particularly in the face of poverty, oppression, violence and environmental destruction. Yet we must...  and we need not only to stick together, as the old adage goes, but must also provoke one another to love and good works.

It seems to me that this is the creative work of nonviolence and social justice. In the face of violence and oppression, how do we "provoke," inspire and empower people to love one another as God first loved us?

God's covenant with the human family is one of love. Let's hold fast to that, together in hope, and do our part to build a better world through love and good works.