5th Sunday of Easter, 2023 - Fr. Leo
God desires intimacy with each one of us. This is made clear in the touching words of Jesus as he is preparing his disciples for his departure. He says to them, “I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” Jesus wants us with him! He wants our company. Jesus loves us more than we can love ourselves, more than we can ever imagine. In fact, if we tried to imagine how great God’s unconditional love is for us, whatever we imagine, would only be a minuscule of the reality of God’s love.
There is a lot of comfort and peace in these words if we can, as the psalmist says, “we place our trust in you.” Faith is trusting God’s love and accepting the peace of living in his endless mercy.
It is not just Jesus who loves us. When Jesus loves us it is the Father loving us as well. This is part of Trinitarian theology, but some years ago on a “heart” level, I felt what it meant to be loved by the Father who somewhere in me, I imagined, as the stern judge who is always overly demanding. Dad is not. This is how we are to think of the Father. In fact a more accurate translation of the Our Father from the Aramaic would be, “Our dad who art in heaven.”
This week let us try to place ourselves in the loving arms of God. Let us place our trust in him and feel in our hearts what unfathomable love God has for each of us!