Over the past twelve years, I have witnessed many couples exchange wedding vows in front of me and their loved ones.\u00a0 Some are visibly nervous, others speak with great conviction, while a few can hardly pronounce the words due to tears of joy.\u00a0 It is impossible to remain indifferent while in attendance at a wedding: some miss their spouse who has died, others renew their personal commitment to each other, others still wonder when his or her true love will appear, and unfortunately for others, it is a reminder of a painful relationship that came to a bitter end.<\/p>\n
Despite the repeated experience of brokenness, loss, and betrayal throughout life, every human person still longs for acceptance and love.\u00a0 It may appear to be a hopeless desire since every experience leaves us wanting.\u00a0 Some time ago, I came across a song in Spanish that downheartedly expresses, \u201cthe more I try to break through the wall, the more scars I have.\u201d \u00a0Our longing for wholeness and purpose appears to leave us wanting \u2013 no matter how hard we attempt to break through the walls of life, we are oftentimes left in the same place with the scars resulting for our attempts at reaching a better place.<\/p>\n
Saint John writes \u201cno one has ever seen God.\u00a0 Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.\u201d\u00a0 The scars that our deepest longings create can only be healed by the infinite love that God offers us.\u00a0 The Good News God offers in Jesus Christ is that each one of us is a beloved son or daughter of God the Father, and as children of the Father, we are heirs of an eternal kingdom.\u00a0 The God we cannot see manifests Himself through the love we share with others \u2013 though broken and wanting \u2013 it is precisely there, that we learn to love with the gratuitous love of the Father.<\/p>\n
Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cfor if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?\u00a0 Even sinners love those who love them.\u00a0 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?\u00a0 Even sinners do the same\u2026 but rather, love your enemies and do good to them.\u201d\u00a0 The instruction to love is a difficult one, and in the end, if one loves well, there will be scars to show.<\/p>\n
The same song mentioned above describes in its opening lyrics a \u201cbeach of desire in the midst of an ocean of hope.\u201d\u00a0 Just as the water from the waves that crash into the shore continues to be sucked up by the sand of the beach, our desires are never quite quenched by the hopes that come our way.\u00a0 We are like a beach of desire never fully satisfied by the earthly hopes and promises that we absorb.\u00a0 True love is not found, but rather gifted to us, by a God who loves us into existence and challenges us to make present to others the same love he has shown us.\u00a0 Our desires will only be fulfilled by a God who loves us infinitely, who embraces us and accepts us because we are his beloved children.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past twelve years, I have witnessed many couples exchange wedding vows in front of me and their loved ones.\u00a0 Some are visibly nervous, others speak with great conviction, while a few can hardly pronounce the words due to tears of joy.\u00a0 It is impossible to remain indifferent while in attendance at a wedding: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":6302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[30,1836,93,98,128,1829],"class_list":["post-6299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-catholic","tag-desires","tag-love","tag-marriage","tag-sacrifice","tag-valentine-day"],"yoast_head":"\n