His Love is Faithful

Commitment can, on one hand be a very difficult concept to fully embrace, especially since everything or everyone we commit to here on earth is imperfect. No matter how we try, we will let others down or be let down ourselves. This makes it very difficult to hang on or stick with something. Commitment on a human level will always fall short in some way.

Our Father, though, is on a different plain. He is profoundly complex, yet amazingly simple. He is love. He cannot let down or disappoint; these are not in his nature. The Father has a stick-to-itiveness about him that puts us to shame.

How is his love faithful? How can we answer that? I look at myself times and wonder: would I love myself and welcome myself back? But, he always does. Because he is love and we are made in his image, he cannot deny himself. It would be like accepting a puzzle that is incomplete as finished. He knows that there is so much more to us than what we present. We are part of him…we make up his heart.

One question that I can somehow answer is, “How do I know that his love is faithful? Two ways: Jesus in the Eucharist and Reconciliation. By giving us his Son, we have access back to the Father and are allowed an intimate interaction with the very one who is most precious to him. The Eucharist gives our life meaning and because of the Cross, our suffering has reason. The Eucharist shows us that the Father is faithful because he shows that he offered his very own heart and return for our love. Because we are receiving Christ, we can see the Father as our Father and fall even more in love with him and even with those around us.

Reconciliation. I have to admit that there was a time that I didn't get it. And, therefore, denied myself access to a different aspect of love-Mercy. I know the Father's love is faithful because I can keep coming back weighed down with sin and struggle. As I utter words that take so much of myself to say, he is there along with his Son in the person of the priest…saying, “Thank you for coming. I have been waiting for you. I love you; I've never stopped loving you, and I forgive you. I will give you strength to resist these temptations.” Exiting the confessional is like crossing the threshold into the Father's arms and his loving embrace. The Son has once more led us to his Father.

The Father's love is faithful because he always wants us to be in relationship with him, know his love, and bring his love to others. This is the part that is so simple but so complex. It's not completely new information. Yet, it can be extremely difficult to accept. He sees what is hurting within us but also what is the best in us, and wants us to live out the latter.

Sometimes, he walks in front of me leading.

Sometimes, he walks behind me encouraging.

Sometimes, he walks besides me correcting.

Sometimes, he carries me and consoles me.

Sometimes, he is silent align me to grow and do on my own.

Sometimes, he comes with a whisper of wisdom on which way to go.

But always always always: he is there.

He that is love is truly faithful.