Dear Brothers and Sisters,
When we see what God has done for us, which is easy to miss or to forget, then we can love him much more deeply ourselves. We cannot love God unless we are first loved by him. So, it’s worthwhile, as I often recommend, to make a list of things that he has given you and to speak about them with your spouse, your kids, your parents or a friend. Saying what he has done for us some how makes it come alive and reinforces the miracle. It helps us not to take God for granted.
God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son. And on top of this the Father said, do whatever you want with him, which is precisely what his enemies did, and what we do sometimes as well. Imagine if a thief breaks into your house and takes all your valuables. Would you then say, “Take my son, my only son, and do whatever you want with him?” Of course not. But this is what God does and he doesn’t stop people who beat him or lie about him or ignore him. He leaves us totally free. And when we do something bad or awful God says, “They did not know what they were doing!” He is full of forgiveness.
God has to save us first and show his love for us at the beginning, and then he starts to put order in our house; he starts to clean our temple. He could not start doing that first or we would rebel against him. But maybe now you are ready for him to put some things in order. I don’t know. Only you can answer that, and even ask him for it.
The Father could have become man himself but it seems more fitting that he sent his Son. It shows a greater love. He makes the sacrifice to give us what is most important to him, what he values most. When my youngest brother died many years ago, it was a very sad event, as you can imagine. The silver lining at that time was that my dad had died a few months before him. I am not sure how my dad would have been able to handle the death of his youngest son. And he was able to help him more from where he was. For anyone to give up his son, especially his only son, is something extraordinary.
When we speak to others in our family or among our friends about what God has done for us, it is the best way to renounce the darkness that surrounds us and to receive the light of Christ. That is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation every few months is the greatest help God gives us to bring things to the light. When we keep our weaknesses and sins in the dark, we suffer more. Only when it comes to the light with a priest, or with a Christian community, does it lose its power over us. And God can give us his peace and joy. How fruitful we can be by letting Christ’s light shine on us, and on those around us.