Recently during my prayer times, I have come to realize what most Catholics already know, that all love comes from God. It cannot come from anywhere else. It does not spring up spontaneously out of the human heart. It is not a 'natural' feeling of a mother for her infant.
Love is always from God. No matter how evil a soul may be, if that person has even the smallest spark of genuine love in his/her heart for even God's smallest creature -- that love came from God and is proof that soul is not beyond God's grace and redemption.
I have a cat named Ginger. God sent Ginger to me. God gave me the love I feel for Ginger. I firmly believe that God will never let His gifts go to waste. So I feel confident when out of the love God gave me I pray for Ginger who God also gave me, that God will hear and answer (whatever that answer may be) out of that same love.
Love is the greatest and most important gift that God gives to us. In fact, all His 'lesser' gifts come out of that great gift. Salvation, life, Church, creation, the job we hate, all the angels and saints, everything we have is nothing more than a reflection of God's love for us. Because we ourselves are God's gift to others, we also are a manifestation of God's great gift of love to all we meet.
If I recognize that I am a manifestation of God's love, and that I am His gift to those I come in contact with, what does that demand of me? How must I live and conduct myself in light of that understanding?
OH how I agree with you. Whoever we encounter, no matter how far they claim they are from God--no matter what their life or their beliefs, if they love they have some type of connection with God and we can never reject them as children of God.
ReplyDeleteThey may not fully know Him, but they have accepted a little bit of His light. We should rejoice and fan those flames with more and more love.