God the Father has loved us into being. There has never been a moment when we have not been loved perfectly by Him. He loves us so much that He has sent His eternally begotten Son to die for us (Jn 3:16). He has also given us the Holy Spirit, the eternal Fruit of the love of the Father and the Son. We are loved with a divine, constant, perfect, crucified, unconditional, and infinite love.

Beloved, it is impossible for us to be loved more. But we can "grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge" (Eph 3:18-19). We must "come to know and to believe in the love God has for us" (1 Jn 4:16). "God is Love," and we can abide in love (1 Jn 4:16). Thereby, we abide in God and God in us (1 Jn 4:16).

As we receive God's love, we can respond by loving Him with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Mt 22:37-39). In His love, we can even love our enemies. In this year of the Great Jubilee, on this two-thousandth anniversary of Love's Incarnation; beloved, live in God's love (Jn 15:10).

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Edward J. Gratsch, March 8, 2000

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, March 9, 2000