Reflections from the Heart – June 18, 2023

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”  Why does God have to prove his love to you, to any of us, or to any of our family members or friends?  God is living and true.  God is the very source and essence of love, an unquenchable fountain, unfathomable depth, overflowing glory. God is the origination of love, its originator.  God is love’s continuation the very existence of love extending love himself into all eternity.  God is love, true love that pervades beauty itself and all that is beautiful.  A true, holy, unconditional love that lovingly overwhelms all that is lovely and even those who may not feel so lovely anymore.  Scripture graciously informs us and honestly invites us to consider God.  To contemplate and take to heart and prayer who God is and how he has already proven his goodness to all generations inviting us to not question but to trust in the boundless and limitless love, which remains inexhaustible and eternal. The Word of God says of love and of himself, “Love is patient, love is kind… It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Love draws its goodness and its pureness directly from God.  Love flows from God, through him, derives from him and is himself like a stream of gentle water refreshing and renewing everything and everyone in its path.  God is like light gently and quietly moving like a dawn bursting into daybreak into our hearts overflowing love itself.  Love is true, good, beautiful and you.  Love, God never fails.  Then why must God prove his faithfulness and fidelity to covenant to you?  Why must we continue to test God and ask him to continue to prove his love for us and for all humanity?  We may on occasion hear a request or even a challenge by an individual to prove our love, our response, our word of commitment to validate our love, our answer, whether our oath is valid or true.  Why?  If our words were truly honest and from the heart, if our actions were consistent and truly for the good of the other, if our yes was yes and our no was truly no then chances would be great that we are considered creditable, believable, trustworthy, true.  There would be no need to undergo a scrutiny, a challenge or test or need to defend, inflate, embellish or stretch the truth.  Love does not have to prove itself.  God already has.