The letter to the Church in Ephesus, found in Revelations: 2:1ff, commends the loyalty of the members, expressed in their deeds, labors and patient endurance in the midst of hardships as well as their fidelity to the Word of God in counteracting the false teachings of some members. That is good. But what needs to be dealt with and changed is their zeal for holiness and their hunger and thirst for the Lord is less than it formerly was. "I hold this against you tough, you have turned aside from your early love. Keep firmly in mind the heights from which you have fallen. Repent and return to your former deeds" (Rev 2:4-5).

Human nature being such, it is hard to sustain and enhance initial fervor. We allow the normal circumstances of life and the subtle probings of the evil one to eventually weaken our excitement and enthusiasm. Have we fallen in the same trap as the Ephesians? Are we as dedicated and committed in our fervor and love of the Lord and in our desire to grow in holiness as we were when we first fell in love of God? Those who are married, is your sacrament of marriage as alive, more alive, less alive than on the day of your wedding? Those who are religious, is your relationship to Jesus the same, greater or less than when you vowed your life publicly as his bride? Those who are single for the Lord, which way have things changed in your life since that day of days when nothing else matter but Jesus?

Each of us is called to overcome the apathy, the complacency, the conditional human responses to love through repentance so that the fire of love can once more be stirred up in intensity. Paul's words to Timothy are aways applicable to us: "I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when...hands were laid on you. The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather one that makes us strong, loving and wise" (2 Tim 1:6-7).