The other night in work it was very quiet for the first time in many, many months, so I had the chance in that big empty building on my won to turn fully to the Lord in prayer. I love this so much that anywhere were we are, a mountain top, a car, a ship, an aeroplane, an office turns itself instantly into our own little Church when we seek the Lord. Sure enough as soon as I turned my thoughts and heart to the Lord He was there , blazing with Love and Warmth and Light He had come as He always does , like a Light Switch had just been thrown. But suddenly it hit me for the very first time ever , that although the Lord had come at my calling , He did not have to have done so. He did not have to do so. He did not owe me anything. He had no duty towards me. He did not need me. The only reason He came was out of pure, pure love. He might have said He was busy with other things. He could have said I bored him He could have said I had offended Him one time too many. He might have said I was a pain in the ass (which I no doubt am ) But He never says , 'No', of hesitates. He is always ,always there. But I suddenly realised how much I take the Lord and His Love and His Mercy and His sheer goodness for granted. Yes He comes. He has always come. He will ways come. Oh Lord, may I never take you and your coming too much for granted. May I always view your coming as a Second Pentecost.
So well said! I think the older I get the more I too wonder what the Lord sees in me. If only I could love and treat others the way He loves! Something to strive for. It's so frustrating that not everyone adores Him. Our creator could have been a horrible beast putting us here only as an entertainment, but He is the most loving, just, Creator who deserves our whole heart, and so many out there want nothing to do with Him. It's comforting at least to try to love Him and spend time with Him and say "I am nothing Lord but I am here for You."
I suspect Jesus loves us to be child like. But hates to see us childish. So for instance from the point of view of Mercy, yes He can extent us His Mercy but the other hand He extends His Justice too. There can be no Mercy without Justice nor can there be true Justice without Mercy. So the childish person may well conceive of a Cosmos without Hell or the existence of true evil , but the truly child like could never do so. The childish take God for granted, something the true child would never do. So that the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima , for instance, are all about reminding us not to be childish in our attitudes towards God. An attitude that presupposes that we everything coming to us; that everything is owed to us. No matter what our Faith, what our behaviour and what our inner State may be. That somehow or other we are owed Salvation. That we have it coming. No matter what. This is to be profoundly childish. So very much the predominant attitude from the '60's to the present day. Where God is reduced to being a Pink Cloudy Sugar Daddy in the Sky. To forget that Grace is Free, but it is never cheap, earned as it is by the Blood of the Lamb. That we are, all of us, somehow doing God a big favour by allowing Him to love us.
If we could have written in our hearts the Words, 'God does not owe me a damn thing', ....it would go a long way to true repentance and inner healing.
Yes Padraig so true! I too get the feeling that alot think of Him as I call it (the Care Bear in the Sky) and just take Him for granted. Ask for sinful things in prayer and then shake their fists at Him when life goes wrong. He is a warrior and king if we have to put Him in human terms, not a weak sugar daddy. I hope everyone can get the warning I got and wake up! I am so grateful God let me go through the suffering I had to go through to bring me back to Him. I fell into the same trap in my 20s thinking God was my personal slave and that He agreed with my every thought and opinion....
Wonderful quote. Perhaps I imagine it, but often I think Jewish converts have a wonderful sharp, cutting, no nonsense , edge to them.
Exactly Padraig. I know so many otherwise devout Catholics who have grievance lists. They wouldn't call it that but they have hard time accepting that God always answers our prayer for our best good. And sometimes He withholds something for the best good of our souls. I remember my father saying in his later years saying "I am grateful to God for NOT answering some of my prayers. Looking back i can see He knew best."
Wisdom! Well said. St Paul tells us he "put way childish things"--and -so must we.. So vital in our faith life.
It is said that the Greatest Sin of our Times is Impurity. Not so. That which lies behind impurity is Presumption. The idea that we've got it all coming to us anyway. The extraordinary notion that God somehow owes us and that continually Spitting in His Face is of no consequence. The bizarre idea that God does not care and that nothing really matters, no matter how wrong or obscene and wicked. 1 Corinthians 4:5 …4My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 6Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another.…
This particular recording of Samuel Barber’s piece is one of my YouTube favorites. Did you know it was first written as an instrumental for strings? The lyrics were applied later, so I’ve been told by an enthusiast. I never tire of listening to this!
Would it be presumptuous on my part to say I believe He came to you that way because you needed Him to...BECAUSE He loves you so?
We need Him, He does not need us. The Blessed Trinity ..and each person of the Blessed Trinity can manage perfectly well on their own...
Yes, and the fact that God does what He does for us anyway!—that He loved us into existence so that He could later love us in spite of ourselves is one AWESOME realization.
God forces no one to Love Him. And yet God is Truly Love and a Lover. Knowing God and Loving God is the reason for our existence. But even in Loving God we are conscious of the chasm between our Love and His Love. Our 'little' Love is like a candle to the devouring Sun of His Infinite Love. But God wants to exchange His Love for our Love and Our Love for His love. What a marvellous exchange. A free gift to us, His Beloved. A gift that keeps on giving. St Clare of Assisi What a great laudable exchange: to leave the things of time for those of eternity, to choose the things of heaven for the goods of earth, to receive the hundred-fold in place of one, and to possess a blessed and eternal life.
OP well put what a beautiful write up about our lord! God is love and the lord will always be there for us. God Bless
I am sure banking in all this! Off to First Saturday Mass and devotions. Prayers for forum members, and most especially for those who cannot be in a church today and would very much want to!
I sometimes wonder if we should not have anew word to describe God's Love? His is like a burning furnace ; ours like a guttering candle.
