the passion of our lord
"Let Me see you, let Me hear your voice." —Song of Songs 2:14
The Lord God is passionately in love with you. You probably know in your head that God loves you. You might even have personally experienced His tender love for you. Yet any love you have felt from the Lord is merely a drop compared to the ocean of love God has for you.
God's love is passionate and self-revealing; by comparison, we are hiding from Him as if "in the secret recesses of the cliff" (Sg 2:14). Any human who loved that much and received so relatively little love in return might be wounded and hesitant to love again. However, God, Who is Love (1 Jn 4:8), cannot stop Himself from wooing you. To Him, you are "beautiful" and "beloved" (Sg 2:10).
The great thing about God's love for you is that you have only to be yourself with Him. He wants nothing more than to love you as you are. You don't have to stay away from God until you feel worthy of being loved. He is crazy with love for you exactly as you are. The Lord, the awesome Creator of the universe, is also your Bridegroom. He thinks "you are lovely" and likes to listen to your sweet voice (Sg 2:14). Come on out from behind "the clefts of the rock" (Sg 2:14). Give the Lord a Christmas present and let Him love you.
Prayer: Father, may I "grasp fully...the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love, and experience this love" (Eph 3:18-19).
Promise: "He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in His love." —Zep 3:17
Praise: "O Radiant Dawn, Splendor of eternal light, Sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death."
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Richard Walling, July 7, 2004
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 19, 2004