“The love of God and selfishness are two contrary loves that resist one another; they are like water and fire. The blacksmith´s dirty water vessel…..will put off the hot iron. So also the divine love is puts off” (Unedited text, Mss. Claret, vol. XIII, p. 697).

UNSUITABLE LOVES

The love of God is not an idea, but an experience. Father Claret was an experienced person in this love which he compares to fire. For him, the fire of love is also a symbol of life: love creates and leads us to offer ourselves for others. For Jesus, “there is no greater love than this, to give one´s life for one´s friends” (Jn 15, 13); and Paul sees the reason of being “held” by the love of Christ (cf. 2Cor 5:14); this love made him to die not for the just but for the sinners (cf. Rom 5: 8). The prophet compares the love of God with that of a loving mother who is incapable of forgetting her children (cf. Is 49: 15).

The experience of the love of God is lived in each one´s personal history. But, can a person say that God loves someone who is undergoing hardships, ill health, economical constrains, persecution even for his faith in the Gospel……? The God of love is not always the complaisant or permissive God; neither a human father is so. We need to live with maturity and firmness the dark moments provided by life. In this sense, to live the love of God means to live in confidence, even if we don´t experience the immediate and revitalizing action of the providence. The presence of the adversity should not put off love.

The experience of the love of God calls us to listen the whispers of God´s silence which cannot be confused with absence; on the contrary, he sheds on us his gentle light which allows us to walk with the enthusiasm towards the last summit of our pilgrimage. Pondering on the glorified wounds of his surrender for us, provides us the necessary strength to smile even in the difficult moments of life.

What do you say about the expression of 1Jn 4:8: “God is love”?. In the face of your little adversity, when you don´t perceive God´s intervention as a “superman”, is your faith shaken?. Do you show your love for Jesus in a patient acceptance of your sufferings?