| “But God proves God’s love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” This powerful proclamation of St. Paul should be a rich source of Lenten reflection for us. God proves God’s love for us. Why does God need to prove God’s love for us? God doesn’t! It is strange that we often fall into the trap of thinking that God must prove God’s love for us. When life is difficult for us, when a loved one is seriously ill, when there is no work, when the weight of our daily responsibilities becomes overwhelming, we think that God should prove God’s love for us; that God should demonstrate in some tangible way God’s love for us. When God does not prove God’s love for us in the way that we want then we decide that God really doesn’t love us, or worse, that there is no God. We must always remember that God does not have to prove God’s love for us. We are creatures, but creatures created by a God who does have a deep, personal love for us. The scriptures testify to the many ways that God has shown God’s love for us. The most powerful demonstration of God’s love for us is that God took flesh in the person of Jesus and died for us to free us from death and give us the hope of eternal life. And while we were still sinners Christ died for us. We are sinners. We are not worthy of the love that God has for us. This is the hard truth that all of us must confront in Lent. But the love of God for us is greater than our sinfulness. God does not hold our sin against us, but rather seeks to liberate us from our sin so that we can participate in God’s life now and live in the hope that one day we will enjoy the fullness of that life forever. The love of God for us is amazing! In Lent, we should maintain a careful balance between an awareness of our sinfulness, our failure to live in faithfulness to what God expects of us as God’s sons and daughters, and an awareness of the love of God for us – a love that is always available to us without condition. Reflect on this extraordinary proclamation of St. Paul throughout this Lenten season. |