The theme of the fourth week of Advent is love.  I asked my son recently, what comes to mind when you think of God’s love?  He replied, God loves us so much, and also, God is love.  That is the truth, which we read in 1 John 4:8—God is love!  

One of the most familiar verses about God’s love is John 3:16, “for this is how God loved the world: He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.”  It is so familiar that we often take it for granted.  Let’s pray for the grace this week to treasure this verse more deeply in our hearts, in a way that changes us.  The Lord is saying, I love you so much that I gave myself for you so that you may have life (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:4-6; 1 John 4:9).  Life in fullness (John 10:10).  I want you to live because I love you (Wisdom 11:23-26)!      

Another truth to take to heart from John 3:16 is that just because we suffer, it does not mean that we have lost God’s love.  God the Father said to Jesus, “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you” (Mark 1:11).  But still Jesus suffered.  That suffering, however, was the revelation of God’s love for us.  “When the kindness and love of God our Savior for humanity were revealed, it was not because of any upright actions we had done ourselves; it was for no reason except His own faithful love that He saved us” (Titus 3:4-5).

When we doubt God’s love or presence in our suffering, may we encourage ourselves and one another to persevere.  We can pray 2 Thessalonians 3:5, “may the Lord turn [our] hearts towards the love of God and the perseverance of Christ.”  And even when we feel unloved, discouraged, or abandoned, we have to remind ourselves that God is greater than our feelings (1 John 3:20).  Just because we feel a certain way does not mean that it is true.  Instead of dwelling in those feelings, we have to dwell in the Scriptures because it is through the Word that we will come to know the truth about God and His love for us (John 8:31-32). 

For example, in John 11:1-44 regarding the resurrection of Lazarus, we read very clearly that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (John 11:3, 5, 36).  Nevertheless, Jesus did not go immediately to heal Lazarus when he was ill, and as a result, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, suffered.  Lazarus died, and Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother.  Again, though, the Word of God very clearly tells us that this was for a greater purpose—for God’s glory and so that His children may believe in Him (John 11:4, 15).  When we remind ourselves of the truth in our suffering, through passages such as these, our hearts will begin to move away from questions about whether God loves us or is with us, to prayer about the greater good for which He is using our suffering.    

In addition to suffering, sometimes shame, guilt, and scrupulosity keep us from experiencing God’s love.  When this happens, it can be helpful to reflect on the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  For instance, God’s love is always patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13:4).  At times, we are very hard on ourselves, but the Lord is so patient with us.  He “is tenderness and pity, slow to anger, full of faithful love.  The Lord is generous to all, His tenderness embraces all His creatures” (Psalm 145:8-9).  We also should embrace and share this tenderness with ourselves and one another.  

Even when we turn away from the Lord, let us remember His patience and resist the temptation to remain distant from Him out of guilt or shame.  The Scriptures encourage us, “come back to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents about inflicting disaster” (Joel 2:13).  He is waiting patiently for us to draw near to Him again.  He loves us, “so repent in real earnest.  Look, I am standing at the door, knocking.  If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that person’s side” (Revelation 3:19-20). 

God’s love is so kind.  As the Psalmist beautifully says, “I need only say, ‘I am slipping,’ for your faithful love, Lord, to support me; however great the anxiety of my heart, your consolations soothe me” (Psalm 94:18-19).  I had this experience last year.  I was praying at Adoration, and my heart was very heavy one particular day.  I was crying.  But as I was praying, the words “Luke 7:13” came into my mind.  I had no idea what Luke 7:13 said; it was not a Scripture that I knew by heart.  

I immediately looked up Luke 7:13 in the Bible, and it says, “when the Lord saw her, He felt sorry for her and said to her, ‘Don’t cry.’”  I was amazed.  The Lord was speaking to me; there are too many verses in the Bible for any other explanation to make sense.  In that moment, nothing about my external circumstances changed, but in my soul, everything changed because the Lord said, I am with you.  This is our God.  This is His kindness and His love.  

God’s love never comes to an end (1 Corinthians 13:8).  His faithful love pursues us every day of our lives (Psalm 23:6), and the Lord has promised, “my faithful love will never leave you” (Isaiah 54:10).  Likewise, we read in Psalm 103:17, “the Lord’s faithful love for those who fear Him is from eternity and forever.”  This means that God’s love is always with us.  “Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39), because “love is built to last forever” (Psalm 89:2).

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what you are going through as we enter this fourth week of Advent, I want to encourage you to keep going.  Whether it is loneliness, overwhelm, a feeling of being unlovable or abandoned, grief, anxiety, or any other hardship, don’t give up.  Keep coming back to the Scriptures to remind yourself that God loves you eternally.  Reflect on where you have seen God’s love in your life today and every day.  Share this with each other and build one another other up.  Persevere in prayer.  Unload all your burden onto the Lord since He is concerned about you (1 Peter 5:7).  “Upright in all that He does, the Lord acts only in faithful love.  He is close to all who call upon Him, all who call on Him from the heart” (Psalm 145:17-18).  He loves you!