God calls us "beloved" (1 Jn 4:7, 11). This not only means that He loves us; it also means that He loves us every moment forever. We can live on in His love (Jn 15:10). "Trial, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword" cannot separate us from God's love (Rm 8:35). We can be perfectly secure in God's love and be "certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Rm 8:38-39).

In this permanent state of being perfectly and infinitely loved by Love Himself (see 1 Jn 4:16), we are transformed into "more than conquerors" (Rm 8:37). Because we are beloved to this "breadth and length and height and depth" (Eph 3:18), we live lives of constant thanksgiving (see Lk 7:42, 47) and perfect joy (Jn 15:11). Even the worst series of tragedies is dwarfed by the awesome reality of being God's beloved. We have been loved into life, new life, and eternal life. Experiencing God's incarnate, personal, crucified, and glorified love for us, we "attain to the fullness of God Himself" (Eph 3:19). Choose to live forever in His love. Be beloved.

Rescript:  †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 1, 2011

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