“In the eschatological fulfillment mercy will be revealed as love, while in the temporal phase, in human history, which is at the same time the history of sin and death, love must be revealed above all as mercy and must also be actualized as mercy” (Dives in Misericordia, 8).
God, who is love, created us in his image and likeness. He made us capable of giving and receiving love. Each of us wants to love and be loved very much – this is how we were created. However, we experience the fact that we often do not love, and sometimes have difficulty accepting selfless love from others. The world we live in tells us that we must deserve love, that we must live up to expectations and be spotless in order to be loved.
But if that were the case, would there be any chance that someone would love us? After all, we are not perfect. On the contrary, we are weak and sinful. Therefore, God’s love for us is mercy. Mercy, which is a gift that forgives our sins. It is love that cannot be bought, it can only be accepted. It is a priceless gift because Jesus paid for it by giving his life on the cross. Therefore, it is a gift that we get for free.
Look at your relationship with God. Isn’t it trying to earn love?
Do you think that you need to change, improve, to be truly loved by God?
Can you love another person with a merciful love, a free and forgiving love ?
…O merciful Lord, You have lavished these gifts on me merely out of mercy; seeing it all given me gratuitously, in deepest humility I worship Your unfathomable goodness. Lord, my heart is astounded that You, the supreme Lord, need no-one, yet out of pure love You stoop down so low to us. I’ll never stop being amazed that the Lord enters on such an intimacy with His creature; again it’s His infinite goodness… (Diary 1523).
