Today’s Scripture readings emphasize that God is the one who has taken the initiative in our salvation. God has borne us up on eagle wings and made us his special possession - we are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy people.
St. Paul is caught up in the wonder of God’s love for us: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us ...When we were God’s enemies, God reconciled to himself by the death of his Son.”
God is love, and the nature of love is to go outside itself toward others. God not only took the initiative in loving us. In the sacrificial death of Jesus, God proves in an incontestable way that we are loved far beyond any considerations of our worthiness. That is the mind-blowing mystery of our faith: we have been redeemed in total love by a God whose love is completely benevolent. God gains nothing by loving us. We gain everything by being loved by God.
Sometimes we can get too preoccupied with our duties as believers, our obligations as members of the people of God. We forget that God first moved toward us in love. We don’t have to seek God; God has found us.
Jesus has reconciled us to God by his death. Our heart-felt acceptance of our reconciliation can lead us to draw confidence from God’s boundless love and take greater hold of the life God offers us in Jesus. Our hope is sure. We have good reason to make God our boast every day of our life.
Our lives can become a joyful celebration of the grace that is ours. We are gifted by God’s love every day.
What return can we make to the Lord for his gift of love? Nothing better than freely and generously sharing that gift of God’s love with everyone we meet.May our thankfulness be evident each day as we choose to be an announcement of God’s gracious love in everything we say and do.
