his passion for all to be saved
"It is no part of your heavenly Father's plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief." —Matthew 18:14
The Lord wants all to be saved (1 Tm 2:4). He wants every person ever created to be with Him in heaven forever. If the Lord had His way, there would be no people in hell.
The Lord's desire for all people to be saved is not merely a wish or abstraction. To save all people, the Lord went to the extreme of emptying Himself (Phil 2:7) to become a human being (1 Tm 1:15) so that He could go to an even greater extreme and die on the cross to save us all (Rm 5:8). The Lord continues His passion to save us all by baptizing us into Him (Rm 6:3), by living within us (Jn 17:23), and giving us His body and blood.
If a person is not saved, it will not be the Lord's fault. What more could He do? He cannot love us more, for He loves us infinitely and perfectly — even to death on the cross.
Accept His extreme, crucified love. Accept Jesus as Savior, Lord, and God.
Prayer: Father, in this Advent, may I "grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love" (Eph 3:18).
Promise: "Comfort, give comfort to My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem." —Is 40:1-2
Praise: Pope St. Damasus on several occasions took strong action to defeat heresy. He "fought hard for the faith" (Jude 3).
Reference: (For related teaching, order our leaflet, Accepting Jesus as Lord, Savior, and God or on video V-43 or audio AV 43-1.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, May 30, 2001
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, June 4, 2001