Love without conditions can be experienced in the presence of God

Published: August 14, 2004

By Judy Hoelzeman

We can never be reminded often enough of God’s love. Maybe that’s because we have been wounded by searching for love everywhere else. As small children, we may consider our parents’ love perfect — until we balk at doing what they ask us to do. A 6 year old, the only girl and the apple of her family’s eye, became disillusioned with first grade after three days.

When her mother ordered her back to school, the deeply hurt little girl asked, “What happened to all that love and stuff?” We look for love in our jobs. There, we are loved when we further our employer’s goals. Without warning, however, expectations change. Our star fades. What happened to all that gratitude and praise?

Where is love more certain than in marriage? We dreamily revel in romantic love, until the reality of living in close quarters brings failures and sloppy habits to light. Down from the pedestals come both bride and groom. What happened to all that adoration? We spend money searching for love. Our culture tells us we can be loved, but only if we buy certain brands.

We pursue this feverishly, only to learn that consumerism is a never-ending cycle. What happened to all those promises? And still we search. The only love that we can always count on is God’s. John’s Gospel explains the unimaginable extent of God’s love: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but may have eternal life.”

The Gospel stories prove that Jesus came, not to emphasize our faults and sins, or to condemn or punish. Jesus came to show us a love that is so powerful that it blocks out fear and guilt over our failures and inadequacies. No other love can do that. Still, pain and tragedy can tempt us to question God’s love and presence. The truth is that our doubts don’t diminish God’s love at all.

But there are habits we can form that will increase our certainty of God’s love. Listen to God’s word proclaimed and preached. “Faith comes through hearing God’s Word,” said St. Paul to the Romans. Vatican II directed all those who preach to place primary importance on the truth of God’s love and on God’s gift of Jesus. “All other truths of Catholic teaching take their place in order after that truth …” (General Catechetical Directory, #16)

Listen for God’s love in the Scriptures proclaimed and in the homilies you hear. Read the Bible. The Scriptures are filled with assurances of God’s love. When we read the Bible in faith, the Church tells us, we are in the actual presence of God. Get away from it all — even if it’s just for a few minutes. Close your eyes and empty your mind.

Recall and repeat a short Bible passage or even the name “Jesus.” Let others love you. Most often I experience God’s love through other human beings — but only if I allow their love in and reflect on its true source. Reach out in love to others. By our baptism and confirmation, we have been made “messengers of God’s word.”

Our vocation as Christians is to proclaim that word of God, at least by the example of our lives. (General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass, #7) The more we treat people in loving ways, the more real God’s love will become. Then, we won’t have to ask as often, “What happened to all that love and stuff?”

Judy Hoelzeman is a member of St. Edward Parish in Little Rock. This article was originally published in Arkansas Catholic Aug. 14, 2004. Copyright Diocese of Little Rock. All rights reserved. This article may be copied or redistributed with acknowledgement and permission of the publisher.