Jan 22 Wed
Is God my Father?
God is our Father: his love is boundless and free.
“In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him," and become his children.
Divine filiation is a mysterious reality that exceeds all the marvels our imagination could dream of. Raised to the order of grace, we have been incorporated into God's family, sharers in the divine nature. What nobler titles could there be to express the dignity of our new condition, now that God has adopted us as his children?
And yet, although this adoption is so marvelous, something about this mystery leaves us even more astonished. It is the extent of God's charity: His infinite, fatherly love for each of us. Without any merit or claim on our part, we are turned from mere creatures into his children.
Only by looking at Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who became incarnate out of love for us, will we “learn a bit more about what is in the heart of a God who humbles himself, discarding all manifestations of his power and majesty to take the form of a servant. In human terms, we could say that God outdoes himself because He goes much further than He needs to save us. The only way to measure what He does is to say that it cannot be measured; it comes from a madness of love which leads him to take on our flesh and bear the weight of our sins."
“Can we realize that God loves us and not be overcome with love ourselves? We must let these truths of faith fill our souls until they change our lives. God loves us! The Almighty, who made heaven and earth!"
God's limitless love is not a response on his part to whatever poor affection we can show him. God's charity precedes our love. God has loved us first, as a father here on earth loves his small child before that child is even aware of his love.
Because we are His children, our offenses cause him particular hurt: we need to make reparation. But God's love, like human love, asks for a response: it is repaid with love. The infidelities of someone dearly loved, and the cold indifference of a child, make a father's heart suffer much more than any affront from a mere stranger. From us, his beloved children, God is looking for a filial, loving response; for faithful, generous affection. And our lack of love, our ingratitude, wounds God's heart more deeply since the offense comes from such a dearly beloved child.
We have received so much from God that we would like to be contrite and sorry for having failed so often to be good children. We resolve now to keep renewing our sorrow, which springs from love and should be expressed in frequent acts of contrition and sacramental confession, if necessary. If we have made a mistake, small or big, let's run to God! God will not spurn a contrite and humble heart.
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