Love

My wife and I were discussing the concept of love tonight. Part of our problem in the modern world is that we do not understand what that means. Sometimes we think about it as how we get the most out of our relationships. We love things that give back more than we put the effort in. However, we have a perfect example of love. Christ gave himself for us, dying on the cross. Did he really need something back from us? We love and praise and worship him. Did he need to die for us to do that? This reminds me of the Psalms. God says there that he doesn't need our sacrifice of animals, he isn't hungry or thirsty. He owns them all! Also, like Moses said, he could raise up children of Abraham from the rocks! He didn't create us as mindless servants. He died for us because he loved us, each and every one of us at all times. He's with us at all times, even during the darkest hours of sin.

This led us to talking more about sacraments like the Eucharist and Confession. Attending mass or going to confession sometimes seems more like a burden to us than it does a blessing. We should remember that these are graces that God provides for our benefit, not for his own. Let's learn to love Christ as he loves us. And, that might be extra hard, because God doesn't even expect that out of us. He gives us so much that we can't even compare it to what we give back, even if we dedicate our whole lives to him!