If we ever want to see a concrete expression of who God is, then we only need to see parents interact with their children. When one of my god daughters was born, the next day I went to see her in the hospital,. All of a sudden, I was holding this day old infant in my arms and I saw the look of love in her parent’s eyes and I know what I felt in my heart. Our parents are not perfect. Most of the time, they try their best to love us with the love of the parent who brought a child into this world. The innocent look on a baby’s face as he or she stares in love at his or her parents. We do not see this love, but we know it in our hearts.
This is God and the mystery we celebrate today. God is eternal and beyond any words that we read in theology books or catechisms. Even the word, “God” is not enough. Remember what God said to Moses at the burning bush: “I am who I am” which interpret God as saying to him that he does not need to know anymore than what God has already revealed. God is the eternal reality that created us in the beginning. God is the redeemer who died and rose for us. God is the powerful wind of the sustaining God. The three persons of the Trinity are not three separate gods; we believe in one God. It can be confusing because of the word “person” which we may see as separation. But, just as we have hands, feet, and a head, we are still one person.
The most important thing to remember is that God is Love. No one created God; Father, Son and Spirit are the Love that created us, redeems us and sanctifies us. I often think of the Father and Son as gazing on each other in perfect love and this Love is the Spirit. Because God’s Love is never self-serving, but by its nature focused outside of the Divine Self. This why God made us; to return that love to God; the God whose image we, and every human being, are made in. This is the path to peace and the path of the Kingdom.
God’s eternal Love is the reason for creation and redemption. God could not leave us to our own destruction and God has interacted with us in every age. Even when we turn away, God continues to love. Nothing we do can separate us from God. Because we are not robots, God gave us the freedom to choose. Obviously, when we choose ways of violence, war, hatred, prejudice, oppression, peace, and love cannot happen. However, when we choose to Love with the love that is God, then the Kingdom of God will blossom, and God’s love will reign. Choosing love softens our hearts and the water of peace will allow the seeds of peace, justice, and charity to blossom in our hearts.
My brothers and sisters, let us spend this Sabbath looking at the face of our God as we look at our parents and see in God’s heart, perfect love. This is the meaning of the Sacred Heart. God’s heart longs for us and this love can and will transform the world if we allow it to.
Leave a Reply