It is a mercy that gives us the courage to face what needs to be faced.
357+Most Holy Trinity, I trust in Your infinite mercy. God is my Father and so I, His child, have every claim to His divine Heart; and the greater the darkness, the more complete our trust should be. (St. Faustina’s diary)
What if we had a human friend that responded by showing more love and compassion the worse we got. Our indifference, our selfishness and our coldness of heart, instead of destroying our friend’s relationship with us, only made him or her more aware of our inner fear, pain and lack of freedom. What if we had such a friend where modern terms like ‘enabling’ or ‘co-dependent’ did not apply. Is it possible for a human to love in such a manner? Probably not, since much of our love is based on some human need that the beloved needs to fulfill.
What if the love was truly unconditional and the beloved was not needed but loved in such a manner that if experienced just once by the one pursued, would burn away all that impedes it. Such a love would wait, never impose, but always be there. In Christianity, the central revelation is that God is not impersonal, distant, or a blind unconscious force, but is love. Love is creative; it gives life, expands what it loves and never lets go of its pursuit.
So yes, the worse we seem to ourselves, the less progress we make is an actual call to deeper trust, and in that looking away from our own feet, we can actually walk across the inner storms, failures, and wanderings off the path. Love always calls us back, is patient and does not count wrongs. It is a mercy that gives us the courage to face what needs to be faced in order to be one with our deepest longing……the embrace of the Infinite.—Br.MD
