It has been a commonplace point in Lenten preaching to say that our sins are what put Jesus on the cross. The priest I went to made that point with respect to my sins. Then he went on to say, "and Jesus says it's okay." God wants me, and if Jesus needs to go to the cross so he can have me, it's okay. God loves me, and you, and needs us to survive. So he'll pay any price to have us. So it's okay that we put Jesus on the cross. The priest had said in a talk he had just given, that as Good Friday and Easter approach, we should ask ourselves, do we believe what God says. Do we trust his love?
So that's what I hope you'll be thinking about as this week unfolds. Is there a God whose love for you is so great that it's okay that Jesus died, if only he can have you? Do you trust God? Do you trust his love? Will you let him have you?
13 comments:
thank you I needed to hear this.
Some interesting thoughts to consider...some deep thoughts to consider.
that's a really nice, and thought-provoking message, especially for this week.
thanks for sharing it with us
torchy!
thanks for sharing its funny people think cause im gay i dont believe. its true i dont go to church but i dont believe i need too it may not hurt but i think i can get in without that. besides when my church wanted to send me away to dehomo me something just not right about that.
hmmm.. yeahh
God's love eh?
I think I can believe in God's love as a concept; it makes theological sense and fits into my conceptual schema... but to live as if that love were true, to feel that love and let that love change me--that i don't know if i can do. As kierkegaard pointed out there is a difference between knowing something and taking that knowledge up into our life... i don't know if I can take God's love up into my life.
Some saints and mystics talk about God's love as if it were a palpable reality, always present, always felt, and that anyone who simply turns to God will feel that love. But often I don't feel that love. I'm no saint. I can't lay back and just feel loved, often i feel nothing but the beating of my heart.
Anyways, nice post, I just wish I knew how that love is communicated.
love and peace
Jordo
Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm glad you all thought it was worth thinking about.
@Ryan — Of course gay men can believe. I understand what you're saying about church. But it is good to fellowship with other believers to build up the Body of Christ. Also you get to hear the Lord's word. I'm not saying you have to go, just that there are good things about it. Maybe you can find one that believes in the gospel and will accept you as you are. If not, no sense going somewhere where the word isn't rightly proclaimed or somewhere that doesn't accept you.
Keep the faith.
@ Jordo — I don't think my life has been changed as much as it should be by God's love. I don't feel his presence and love nearly enough. I'm beginning to try to be better.
But lots of people say that ultimately it is God's work, not ours. What we have to do is let him in. And you don't get to where the saints and mystics were overnight. It seems that it is a gradual process. One thing people recommend is a prayer of listening to God — maybe by reading a passage of scripture slowly several times and seeing what word or phrase or images really strikes you. Then take a few minutes quietly reflecting on that piece of it — not to figure it out for yourself but to let God speak to you in it. I'd suggest the epistles of John and the gospel of Luke as sources to begin with.
Anyway, I think that if you are willing to have God in your life, he'll be there.
Thanks again for all the posts.
NG
first i want to wish you a happy easter and being raised catholic i know how inpotant this week is to you
god can have me as i have done nothing for him not to have me and as for his love if that is what you would want to call it i have always sought that and as for trust he has mine.
and like ryan suggst i do not need a church to have these things but also like jordan suggests i have long sought what god feels like for i have had few feelings of love in my life
i wish the best during the easter season and thank you fo rsharing your thoughts
take care and be safe
bob
@ bob — Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I certainly hope you will feel that love. I know my faith has been largely a matter of thought rather than feeling. So I could also say that I have not actually *felt* God's love very much.
interesting im not trying to ridicule the catholic belief or anything but don’t you think the Catholics have brought this upon them selves not condoning priests getting married and living alone except with other priests and the priests can only be virgin men and not allowing contraceptives and such
Sebastian — thanks for commenting. I'm not sure I understand what the "this" is that you are suggesting the Catholics brought on themselves. Sexual misconduct by clergy? Decline in numbers of clergy? Something else? So I hope what I say will be related to what you have in mind, but if not, by all means correct my misunderstanding of the question.
First off, the priests don't have to be virgins. Men who were married but are now widowers are eligible. And a single man who has not been married but has had sex could be admitted to the priesthood if it was clear that he could be celibate as a priest.
But men cannot be married at the time they're ordained, and they are not allowed to have sex. Admittedly, this is not an easy standard to live up to. But then so is fidelity within marriage and celibacy outside of marriage, which the Church teaches is the call everybody has.
If we ordained married men, we might see less misconduct with boys. But churches that have married clergy also have the occasional clergy sexual misconduct as well — both heterosexual and homosexual. So I think having married priests would shift the problem, rather than curing it.
Perhaps we would have more applicants for the priesthood if we married men, but in earlier times the celibacy requirement did not prevent abundant vocations, so I think the real problem is elsewhere, in the attitude of people toward clergy and in the rise of widespread university education and all the opportunities for financial success which higher education brings.
The thing about contraceptives is that it is not a question of choosing to allow them or forbid them. When it comes to clergy, the Church realizes full well that it has made a rule which it could change tomorrow. But when it comes to contraceptives, the Church understands it as God's rule, not the Church's. The Church sees itself as teaching what God has revealed about how things should be. Therefore the Church is not at liberty to change its teaching on the matter.
If you scroll down the sidebar of my blog and click on the label "morality" the posts on "Flesh" and "Image and Likeness of God" touch briefly on why the Church understands contraception to be wrong. In summary the creation of sex and the command to be fruitful and multiply are part of what it means to be created in the image and likeness of God. God's love creates; God's love shares his goodness; God's love is life-giving. Sex is the element of our humanity which enables us to pass our goodness on by procreating new persons, transmitting life. Contraception is a direct interference with the image and likeness of God in sexual activity; and so it makes sexual activity an abuse of God's gift.
hay thanks for that
it has explained a lot to me about some of the views cathlic churches have.
me with a family of christians jews and athiasts should be not so sterotipical against the cathlic religeon as none of us actually no your views therefore its easy for us to look at catholics sterotipically
p.s sorry if there a lot of spelling errors as i am typing on a cellphone
naturgesetz!
Thanks for the shout out here!
So often we ask of God but how often do we consider what he asks of us?
Interesting points to consider in this post!
-Dean
Yes, Dean. The first thing is to realize that God wants us — we are his. Then we let him tell us what is good for us to do as his children.
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