I would like to stay on the topic of Jesus’ love for us this week. He loves us no matter who we are, rich, poor, good, bad lazy or a go getter. We should know this already because he became human for us, taught us about the Father and heaven, died a horrible painful death for us, rose from the dead for us and gave us a great gift, his presence in the Eucharist so he could be physically here with us and become one with us after he ascended to heaven. He loves us so much that he will work signs and wonders for us to believe in his amazing love.
As I was beginning my conversion I had no idea to what lenghts he would go to convince me of how deep and personally he loved me. As he continued to speak to me, and though I believed he loved me, he wasn’t content to let me believe that he just loved me like I love people in my life. He wanted me to know specifically how deeply and passionately he loved me. He told me that our story was a great love story. I have to admit that I did find that hard to believe. After all I had been either absent from church or simply a Sunday church goer, a sinner not a saint so why love me so much. I was sure there were better candidates for his offer which in turn made me question if indeed this was Jesus speaking to me or was I losing my mind or worse was it the devil. Once again I went into the empty church and knelt before the tabernacle (yes, I’m Catholic and the tabernacle is where the Eucharist is kept) and I began praying. He again asked me to believe that this was him and his love for me was real. As doubts began to surface he told me that his heart was in my hands. I was in shock. His heart in MY hands! This couldn’t be real. Suddenly my hands began to tingle like crazy and turned a dark pink. I once again got freaked out and quickly left the church.
I struggled for the rest of the day with what happened in the church. I picked up my kids from school in the afternoon. On Fridays they would put the bulletin for the upcoming Sunday in the kids book bags and so I pulled it out of my son’s bag. I froze. I couldn’t believe what was on the cover of the bulletin: 2 hands holding a heart. I almost passed out. How could this be? The bulletin is put together two weeks ahead of time. My mind reeled knowing that this could not be coincidence but Jesus knew at least two weeks earlier that I would be in church still questioning everything and he had prepared for it. My mind reeled with a thousand questions. I couldn’t I be that important to him? Why would he take the time and do the planning it took to take my breath away at that perfect moment? It still takes my breath away when I think of it but the bottom line is that he’s love itself and he wants each of us to know the lengths he will go to prove his love for us. The cross itself should be proof enough of his great love for us but he knows that at times we just need that loving caress to reassure us. If you have any doubts that he loves you this much just ask him to prove his love to you. He will! It may not be in the same way he proved it to me but he will show you. He loves you more than you can think or imagine. You and He and all of us are the greatest love story ever told! By the way, the picture attached to this post is a photo of that bulletin.
