How to love in the image of God?

06 outubro 2024

Today’s readings tell us about marriage, but they also want us to discover how God wants us to live love. 

How can we love in the image of God?

1. Admire God, the source of all love 

– God is the communion of love between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is the source of love. This love is the communion of the three persons of the Trinity; it is also what makes them one! It is a mystery… it is also the beauty of God’s Love.

And God, who is Love, loves us faithfully. For God, love is nothing other than communion, unity and fidelity. 

– And God created us in his image! 

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (…) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:27-31)

That’s why we are called to love as God loves. It’s not an easy path. It’s demanding, one might even say impossible! But it is God who makes it possible.

– Go to the source

Once again, the more we put God’s love at the centre of our lives, the easier it will be to live according to his plan.

– Letting ourselves be looked at with love in prayer.

– Letting ourselves be filled with his love in the sacraments.

– Letting God love others through us through service.

2. Accept our mission, which is to love

– To love in his image, that is, in unity, fidelity and communion.

God has no other plan for us. “What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).

– Living marriage as a daily challenge. 

It is our weakness that has led us, throughout history, to deviate from God’s plan for us. God’s plan for marriage is that of the Garden of Eden! And no other! But the battle is daily!

Practical means: 5 minutes of dating every day

– To love in everyday life, at work, here in the parish, in the family… our mission is the same.

“Since you have been chosen by God, sanctified and loved by him, clothe yourselves with tenderness and compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another if you reproach one another. The Lord has forgiven you: do the same. Above all, have love, which is the most perfect bond. (Colossians 3:12-14)

3. Love like children to enter and build the Kingdom 

“Let the children come, do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like them” (Mark 10:14).

– Keeping our childlike gaze

Children believe, trust and surrender… what about us? Have we kept our childlike gaze to understand and believe that what God has planned for us in creation is possible with his grace? 

– To enter the Kingdom is to be like children who abandon themselves and trust in the Love of the Trinity. All children of the Father, all brothers and sisters of Jesus, so that he can “lead many children to glory” (Hebrews 2:1).

SFS

– Admire God, the source of all love: Take a cross with the image of Jesus crucified and think: “All this Jesus did for me!”

– Accepting the mission of love: forgiving or asking someone for forgiveness.

– Loving like children: asking God for help in a difficult situation.