We have to make the effort to feel
the love of God for us
which he pours on us abundantly. That’s simply because unless we feel
that love and get moved by it, we cannot manage to love as we ought to
love. Let’s always remember that Christ himself loves us first, and
commanded us to love one another as he himself has loved us. Christ
makes himself the standard and source of our love.
Otherwise, what may happen is that we may just rely on our
own self-generated kind of love that can only do so much. For example,
our self-generated love would not know how to be patient for long with
trials and sufferings, how to love and be merciful with those who give
us trouble.
It would be a love ruled by the law of Talion, eye for an
eye, tooth for a tooth. It would be a love marked by self-interest. In
other words, it would not be pure and completely gratuitous. There
would be strings attached to it. Also, it cannot last long. It would
be too dependent on our moods, and other shifting conditionings.
Our attitude toward this tremendous and most mysterious
love of God for us should be that of extreme gratitude and fidelity,
and to love him as much as we could in return, since love is always
repaid with love.
Concerning this point, it’s good to remember that we
should always feel very close to God because He is first of all very
close to us with his love. Yes, even if we are unworthy and imperfect,
God will always love us, and it’s right that we always feel confident
and sure of this love. We should never doubt the veracity of this
truth of our faith.
At the same time, we should never stop trying to get to
know and love him more and more, because even if he is the closest
being to us, he is also the farthest, since he is pure mystery to us.
This latter reality about God should spur, not curb, our effort to
find more ways to know, love and serve him.
Everyday, we should work out this need of filling
ourselves with God’s love, since this does not come to us
automatically. In the first place, we have to contend with our human
and natural limitations that simply cannot cope with the fullness of
God’s love.
This is not to mention that we are also burdened by the
effects of our sins and weaknesses, the environment of temptations and
other conditionings that would make us not only insensitive and
resistant but also hostile to God’s love.
That’s why it’s good to cultivate a life of recollection
and contemplation even while in the middle of the world, ever
meditating and relishing on God’s goodness, wisdom, love and mercy.
That he created us when there was no need for him to do
so, that he endowed us with the best of things such that we become his
image and likeness, that he always forgives us when we fall and is
patient with us in our erratic ways, that he provides us with all our
needs—all these and more should always be in our mind and heart.
Even if he allows trials, suffering and calamities to come
our way, we should not forget that his love knows what to do with
them. As St. Paul would put it, “Love bears all things, hopes all
things, endures all things…” (1 Cor 13,7)
For his part, everything is given for us to be able to
love as we are commanded. In the first place, Christ is the God made
man who shows us the fullness of love which is the very essence of
God, just as St. John said, “God is love.” (1 Jn 4,8)
Christ shows us the kind of love that has to contend with
our human condition that is wounded and weakened by sin. It is the
kind of love that knows how to deal with sin in its many forms and in
its consequences.
It’s a love that knows how to forgive, even to the point
of assuming our sinfulness, willing to die for us even when we are
still in the state of sin and have not yet asked for forgiveness. St.
Paul attests to this when he said: “God demonstrates his own love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us...”
(Rom 5,8)
We need to broaden our understanding of love, and to
vitally link it with the love of God.
which he pours on us abundantly. That’s simply because unless we feel
that love and get moved by it, we cannot manage to love as we ought to
love. Let’s always remember that Christ himself loves us first, and
commanded us to love one another as he himself has loved us. Christ
makes himself the standard and source of our love.
Otherwise, what may happen is that we may just rely on our
own self-generated kind of love that can only do so much. For example,
our self-generated love would not know how to be patient for long with
trials and sufferings, how to love and be merciful with those who give
us trouble.
It would be a love ruled by the law of Talion, eye for an
eye, tooth for a tooth. It would be a love marked by self-interest. In
other words, it would not be pure and completely gratuitous. There
would be strings attached to it. Also, it cannot last long. It would
be too dependent on our moods, and other shifting conditionings.
Our attitude toward this tremendous and most mysterious
love of God for us should be that of extreme gratitude and fidelity,
and to love him as much as we could in return, since love is always
repaid with love.
Concerning this point, it’s good to remember that we
should always feel very close to God because He is first of all very
close to us with his love. Yes, even if we are unworthy and imperfect,
God will always love us, and it’s right that we always feel confident
and sure of this love. We should never doubt the veracity of this
truth of our faith.
At the same time, we should never stop trying to get to
know and love him more and more, because even if he is the closest
being to us, he is also the farthest, since he is pure mystery to us.
This latter reality about God should spur, not curb, our effort to
find more ways to know, love and serve him.
Everyday, we should work out this need of filling
ourselves with God’s love, since this does not come to us
automatically. In the first place, we have to contend with our human
and natural limitations that simply cannot cope with the fullness of
God’s love.
This is not to mention that we are also burdened by the
effects of our sins and weaknesses, the environment of temptations and
other conditionings that would make us not only insensitive and
resistant but also hostile to God’s love.
That’s why it’s good to cultivate a life of recollection
and contemplation even while in the middle of the world, ever
meditating and relishing on God’s goodness, wisdom, love and mercy.
That he created us when there was no need for him to do
so, that he endowed us with the best of things such that we become his
image and likeness, that he always forgives us when we fall and is
patient with us in our erratic ways, that he provides us with all our
needs—all these and more should always be in our mind and heart.
Even if he allows trials, suffering and calamities to come
our way, we should not forget that his love knows what to do with
them. As St. Paul would put it, “Love bears all things, hopes all
things, endures all things…” (1 Cor 13,7)
For his part, everything is given for us to be able to
love as we are commanded. In the first place, Christ is the God made
man who shows us the fullness of love which is the very essence of
God, just as St. John said, “God is love.” (1 Jn 4,8)
Christ shows us the kind of love that has to contend with
our human condition that is wounded and weakened by sin. It is the
kind of love that knows how to deal with sin in its many forms and in
its consequences.
It’s a love that knows how to forgive, even to the point
of assuming our sinfulness, willing to die for us even when we are
still in the state of sin and have not yet asked for forgiveness. St.
Paul attests to this when he said: “God demonstrates his own love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us...”
(Rom 5,8)
We need to broaden our understanding of love, and to
vitally link it with the love of God.
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