Today's First Reading

Reflections on Bible passages aren't my expertise, and there are plenty of blogs and websites out there that can give you a far more superior spiritual and intellectual summary of today's first reading (the first one, not the Gospel), but after reflecting on it I couldn't help but share it with all of you. It's beautiful... And not too long.

1 John 4: 7-10
(Take notice of the 1 John. Not the Gospel of John. They can be easily confused).

Beloved,
Let us love one another, because love is of God;
Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Doesn't that just send chills down your spine?
I love how lately the first readings have been starting with "beloved". So romantic.

So obviously the main message of this passage is love.

Not just any love, but Love Himself (Jesus). When I think of how He loved, I can clearly see the perfect love of the Nativity. The love and obedience to His parents as a young boy. The love as He kissed Mama Mary goodbye to go start  His ministry. The brotherly love He felt for John the Baptist and His beloved apostles. The love for the crowds of people who flocked to Him, desperate for healing and truth. The love when He took each child by the hand and in a loving glance showed them the simple wonder of the universe. The love in the face of the worse suffering known to man, more painful than all other suffering combined (in all of history). His loving embrace as He welcomes us with the joy of knowing that He is no longer dead, that we are saved. And finally, the love he feels for us right now, at this very moment, which is so great that we can't even wrap our minds around it without them exploding.

This love is so pure, so perfect, and it is all we need to sustain us in this life.

"In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us."

We can do nothing to deserve this love, but we don't have to. It's freely given to us. 

Jesus Christ is the perfect sign of God's love. It is through Him we live, through Him we love, and through Him that we will achieve eternal happiness when we die.

It doesn't matter if we love God or not (although, this is the only way to be happy in this life and the next.)

No, it doesn't matter, because He loves us. And that's enough.

Love,

A Catholic Teen