John 8:21-30 I AMI am the resurrection…I am the way, the truth and the life…I am the vine…I am the good Shepherd…I AM.
Our Lord has revealed himself to the world. He is not just a great man, an amazing prophet, or an incredible miracle worker. He is my Lord and Savior, my God, my all, my purpose and being, the beginning and end of my life and faith journey. He is who I am called to be.
Jesus is God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is the God of fulfilled promises, of everlasting love, of undivided unity. He is the God of Moses: “I am who I am.” There is no division, no conflict, no hesitation or doubts. There are no mountains he cannot overcome; no seas to deep to walk across, no tombs too secure to open up. He lives the way he breathes – peacefully, easily, comfortably. He is present and alive in the richest, deepest, and most profound-est way. And we have been created in his image and likeness. I have been called to be in him, with him and through him in heart, mind, body and soul as he shares his body, blood, soul and divinity with me. This goes beyond all explanations, all scientific theories, all mysteries! It is love beyond all imagining. It is love divine, a love that endures all things.
I am because He IS. I am a gift from God, a love gift, a present (here I am!), a flower in God’s amazing garden. Though I am fragile and small, I survive the winds and rains, the raging storms, the solar winds, the gigantic black holes of loss and loneliness. I can because I am His, I belong to him and I shall return to Him.
O how I searched for happiness in all the hidden places. I left behind my faith, my values, my morals, my principles and my dignity in search for love, thinking that love would hide itself. “Late have I loved you, O beauty so ancient and new! Late have I loved you. Behold, you were within me and I out of myself, and there I searched for you.” (St. Augustine, Confessions)
The Lord reveals who He is: The great I AM. He reveals to me who I am: his beloved child. Love amazing! Love divine! I will never know who I am unless I know who He is. No wonder the first and greatest commandment is, “Love God above all things.” Can this love be commanded? Does God need my little love? Is he so full of himself that he needs my love? No, but I do need his love. For this reason, if I do not acquiesce to the first commandment, then I will never be able to follow the second great commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Other than love, what do the two have in common? The first commandment reminds me of who God is. If I know and love him, then I will be forced to love myself, and if I love myself, then I can love my neighbor. The two go together like brother and sister even though they are water and oil. The Lord knows how to bind, fuse and bring together, like Father and child, like family.
Lord, here I am. Take me; love me; embrace me; support me; encourage me; heal me; strengthen me; believe in me, and love me till we are one again. AMEN.
I just got back from mass and I decided to read your mediation...It is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIf God exists, and His love is real, than we lack nothing for happiness.
If he IS, than I can be fulfilled.
I pray that His grace bring me to the place where I know His love, without doubt, and have his love overflow through me to others...Oh, Lord, please hear my prayer!
P.S. I prayed for you in mass. :)