WAS DRIVING DOWN the freeway for weekday Mass a couple of weeks ago, and I was pondering Mary’s IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, and marvelling at how God must have loved Mary so much as to choose her out of all His creatures, to be His Mother! I remember telling her, in my prayer right there and then, that she was so blessed to be so loved by God. I remember thinking that God probably loves her more than anyone else in all creation. But in that moment, it was as if I heard Our Lady chiding me gently, saying ‘Dear child, God loves you just as much! He doesn’t know how to love you any less than perfectly, for His Love is Perfect.’
Matthew 5:48 • I remember being very struck by that epiphany…God’s love is perfect! He doesn’t love anyone any less than perfectly. He can only love with perfect love because He is perfect! Then I recalled how in scripture, Jesus exhorts us to ‘be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ (Matthew 5:48) Wow…in my limited human understanding of love, for some reason, I felt as if God loved some people more than others. Little children after all, often ask their parents “Do you love me more than my brother?” or “Do you love me more than my sister?” or “Whom do you love the most?” I suppose it was as if I thought that God had a limited supply of love to give, and that if he loved the saints or Mother Mary or Saint Joseph that much, He couldn’t possibly have enough love left to give little old me.
“We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)
“As Through A Glass” • In my limited human understanding of love, it felt as if God must love the saints and Mary and Joseph more than me…after all, they were so holy, they lived lives of virtue, Mary was immaculately conceived and sinless and never did anything to displease Our Lord! Yet, I was looking at love from my limited human perspective and understanding. God’s love is Perfect! He doesn’t know how to love any less than perfectly… His love for Mary is perfect. His love for St. Joseph is perfect. His love for little old me is perfect! It’s as if we were all different vessels of various sizes—God’s love fills us to the brim no matter what shape or size we are!
Question Posed • So we are called to be perfect, to love as perfectly as He loves us. To love our neighbor as perfectly as He loves them. It seems like a tall order! And my human heart sometimes fails to grasp at how this is possible. Here again, God comes to the rescue. I remember that not too long ago, like a little child asking this of his parent, I posed this question to God. “God, how do I know, that out of all the billions of people in this world, that if I were the only person here, that you would STILL have chosen to die for me? To be crucified for me?” In other words, I was like that proverbial child, asking his or her parent, if I was worth all their sacrifice, if I was worth their love. If I was lovable enough. With that question posed to God, I went to bed, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten my mind if He so chose to do so.
Answer Received • The next morning, after I woke up, I had my answer! The answer is in the Eucharist! When we receive Him in the Eucharist, we believe that it is truly God in His entirety, His whole Divinity, His whole Humanity is present in that very host that we receive at Holy Communion. It is entirely Him! He gives His whole, entire SELF to us. And as He is received into our bodies, and the Eucharistic species dissolves within us, consumed by our bodies, He is in a very real way dying to give us life. So yes, I had my answer. The Lord loves me so much that He would indeed, die for me, if I were the only one present in all creation, because He does that every time whenever I receive Him in Holy Communion. As He gives Himself fully to me in that moment, I am His entire world. I am everything to Him in that moment!
Deeper Appreciation • Understanding this has made me appreciate the Eucharist so much more. It has given me new eyes in which to view His love for my neighbor and to marvel that even if I don’t know the person behind me in the communion line, God loves him or her so much, that He is giving His entire self to him or her, and dying for him or her, right there and then. That in itself is inspiration enough to look behind the veil, to view my neighbor, my friend, my spouse, my child through the eyes of a God who loves them so much that He gives Himself completely, with perfect love, to them, each and every time they receive Him in the Holy Eucharist.
What a generous, merciful and loving God we have. Deo gratias!
