“God loved us, and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (i John iv, 10).
No matter how many times we hear the message, or think about what it means, it is still an astounding one: the Creator of the Universe, who lived in perfect, unapproachable light from eternity to eternity, saw the betrayal of His own creatures, and decided to save them. Save us. To do this, He didn’t fashion a remedy out of thin air, but sent His only-begotten Son to take upon Himself our flesh and dwell among us. Even more extraordinary: this same God, now united forever to our mortal, human nature, took the greatest challenge to His authority, and the consequence of man’s betrayal — suffering — and used it to save the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ’s suffering and death upon the Cross was experienced in His human nature. Thus, the answer to the problem of Eden — how do we get back to God in paradise — as well as the problem of human suffering — why do bad things happen to good people — was given in the same instant on the Cross. Our suffering has meaning, because God came to suffer with us. And in doing so, He saved us.
This is the radical message of the Christian Gospel. This is the fuel that sent missionaries around the world. This is the hope that led martyrs to face their doom joyfully. This is why disciples of Jesus can look at the world, with all its horrors and terrors and injustice, and still see their way to trust these wrongs shall be righted. Because God sent His Son as expiation for our sin — because He loved us. This fact alone distinguishes Catholic Faith from any other religion. In the other world religions, God is, or the gods are, may be quite interested in human activity, but they do not love humanity in general and specific persons in particular. But not our Lord Jesus Christ. In freedom, He chose to submit to the Father’s will, and to lead Heaven’s invasion to liberate this world, all because He loves us.
So what about us? What is our response to the knowledge that God loves us and that He has definitively answered the ultimate question? Does it change the way we live? The way we think and act? The most difficult task for the Catholic who knows all these things and believes them is recollection. Recollection: to recall that the Most Holy Trinity, the God of the Universe, loves us, and that even now, He is present to us. Present to us. To you. Yes, here in the Tabernacle, and at Mass. But also in the shop. At home. In the park. Not in the same way, of course — our Eucharistic Lord’s substantial Presence here is unique. But through the power of the the Holy Spirit, God is present. Waiting.
On us. For “God love[s] us, and [has] sent his Son as expiation for our sins.”