You are His beloved
"Do you really want to marry him? Oh, my God…See his face! His eyes are like the eyes of an owl! His nose looks like a ripe tomato! The hair.... HIV (Hair Is Vanishing) Are you sure?" Some girls question their beloved and beautiful friend who is about to marry.
"Sure, because I fell in love with him!"
"Fell in love? You fell in love with that guy?"
And this is the answer of that a beautiful girl: "Yes, i fell in love with him ... not with his face but with his heart!"
It seems that the saying, "love is blind" is true. True loves does not differentiate somebody handsome or beautiful or not!
In our second reading today St. Paul says, "For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them." There is a better translation from the Jerusalem Bible: "We are God's work of art." Other translations, like the one we use at Mass, use the term handiwork of God. Is it handiwork or work of art? The word used is the Greek word, poiema. This same Greek word is used in the Greek translation of the Book of Genesis when it describes God as creating the heavens and earth. So, we are God's creation. St. Paul said, "We are created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance…." We are a unique part of the new creation of the world through Jesus Christ. The authors of the Jerusalem Bible obviously felt that God was far more than the Divine Handyman. He is the Divine Artist. And we are His work. We are God's work of art. Whatever your appearance is, you are a beautiful God’s work of art! You are His beloved!
This is how God loves us. Loves is blind. I think he loves us blindly. He will always love us even when we do not deserve His love. He gave us His Son for our salvation. It is true that He is just ... but he is also merciful ... Retributive but forgiving! He loves us first before we love Him.
The season of Lent is a good opportunity to reflect on the love of God and see our being sinners! It is easier to see a black spot if we put it on a white background. It is easier to see our being sinners if we put ourselves in the love of God. There, we will see how big our failures are but it will not change His love. So, it is the time for us to approach God and seek his forgiveness for our sins.
Do not worry if you feel that you are a sinner. You are still and always His beloved! Seek His mercy!
