Reflections from the Heart – October 30, 2022

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God’s love is true and unconditional, pure and righteous, sacrificial and selfless and can really astound us and at times even surprise and baffle us. Not because God chooses or desires to confuse or trick us. His love is simple and innocent in nature.  Because of our own deep-rooted self-centeredness, we are unable to fully grasp the love of God. We are so “me-centered.” We are unable to fully understand or comprehend God’s total love for us and therefore, we are unable and perhaps even unwilling to surrender even some of ourselves to the possibility of experiencing the most profound and amazing gift known to all humanity; the greatest gift afforded to humankind – God’s divine love. It is the kind of love that leaves us breathless. Who would want to breathe in anything less? The kind of love that is totally free.  It cannot be earned, bought, or traded. This kind of love lives always for the other. It is never selfish, self-serving, or self-interested. God’s love does not seek to make any demands.  But if you are truly going to love as Christ did, that is with all his Sacred Heart, with every part of his Precious Body, with the mind of the Father and the soul of the Spirit and as humanly possible, then we are to love simply, freely and willingly with all our heart, mind, body, spirt, and soul and our very being just as Jesus did. It should make us wonder, seriously, who can love like that? In reflecting on our lives, our thoughts, words and actions and how we live out the gift of our existence, it should make us question: “Why would anyone love us like that?” “Can I really love like that?” “Can I truly receive love like that?” “Can I selflessly share love like that?” What challenges or even scares us is that we have the awesome yet terrifying power to say yes or no to God’s love. To either accept him or to reject his precious gift. To receive him or to deny his love. To participate in his life or to decline his graciousness. What an awesome yet terrifying power that comes with the free gift of God’s love. May we more freely receive God’s gracious gift in our hearts and in the freedom Christ has won for us, freely share God’s love with one another.