Nothing Worth Sharing More…

I was on a retreat last weekend, and it was fantastic. My friends and I were leaders, goodness knows why, instructed to bring kids closer to God. Part of the retreat was handing out spiritually affirming letters written by our parents, friends and leaders. Basically, it was a time to recognize the love others have for us, our own worth and value, something the world neglects to do, focusing instead on all the ways we can be better. I was incredibly blessed with kind words written to me, with a feeling of community only the Catholic Church can bring. My sister Mary wrote me a letter, quoting the Avett Brothers – a common love between us – saying
“Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.”

That line has always struck me powerfully, and to hear it from my sister and to understand the value of our family was a moment of grace. But then something happened that pierced me even deeper. God whispered to me, in that pure and quiet way that only God can, “You and I, we too share a name.”

I wept, not because it made complete sense in my head, but because it made sense in my heart. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, here’s what I’ve got. God’s love really is family. It is the family of the Trinity. The love between the Father and the Son is so powerful and infinite that it is necessarily a person (more on that in another post) and it is that person, the Holy Spirit, that fills our hearts to overflowing. Thus being loved by God is – in a very profound and intimate way – being brought into a family. It is sharing a name. I get an image in my head whenever I think about this, that we are like orphans looking into the window of a warm house, watching a perfect family and longing to be part of it, only to have the door open and hear our names called by a voice of pure love, an invitation to live forever in that happiness.

In that sense, we are all being quite cocky when we call down the Holy Spirit, when we ask God to show us His love. Like whiny kids seeing someone with something and saying, “I want one too!” it is somewhat foolhardy and audacious to ask for the love of God – dare we sinners push ourselves into the Holy Trinity? Dare we broken people poke our heads through the window and beg, “Can I come in?”

The truth is we can dare, and we should, for God has adopted us orphans. He opened the door when he died on the cross. He died so we might interfere in the perfect love of the Trinity, that we might somehow mash ourselves into that house we don’t deserve, and live there forever in peace. When we accept this faith, this God and this Church, we become wrapped up in family, in the Communion of Saints and the Holy Trinity. Always remember, no matter what you do, that there is nothing worth sharing, nothing on earth, like the love that let’s us share in the name of God. Praise him well.