When we are far from someone or some object, we usually ask someone to call the person or reach the object for us, when we do not go to meet them. In the history of salvation we can say that even though man is distant from God (cf. Gen. 3). God always reached him through the prophets, until the Lord personally came to meet him and revealed his love of the Father.

In Romans 8:15, Paul shows that our relationship with God can not be that of slaves, but of children, because we receive the spirit of Abba Father. We can contemplate the love of parents towards their children, and we even perceive the sacrifice of love which many of them do for their children and for the family to have harmony. It is beautiful, but compared to the love of God, it is small. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “the language of faith is thus inspired by the human experience of parents, who are in a sense the first representatives of God to man. This human experience, however, also teaches that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood . It should therefore be remembered that God transcends the human distinction of the sexes . He is neither man nor woman, he is God. It transcends also human paternity and motherhood, although it is its origin and measure: no one is a father as God is. “(239)

Illustrative Photo: Andréia Britta / cancaonova.com

The love of God

Although it surpasses, we can think to understand that the love of God is paternal and maternal. It means that his paternal love gives us security, protection and puts us in an attitude of overcoming. His maternal love is loving and welcoming, and we know that he never abandons us despite our mistakes. He knows the right measure for each of us, because He is love and precedes us. In 1 Jn 4:10 we find: “This is love: it is not we who love God, but he is the one who loved us.”

The face of this God, who is the Father of mercies , is Jesus. He is the whole voice of Scripture when He says: The Father loves you! (Jn 16:27). He came to save man from sin, but above all to reveal the Father. Saint Alphonsus Mary of Liguori says that Christ could redeem us without going through the cross. Why did you do it? To show his love: He loved us and gave himself for us. He says that Christ could not wait to give the last proof of his love, dying on the cross, consumed with pain. If we look at the film Passion of the Christ, we can see the determination in the gift of Jesus. He is the manifestation of the Father’s love.

Read more:
.: Third of love
.: Can devotion be considered a proof of love?
.: The cross represents Christ and the love that He has for us.
.: The difficulties of the Christian life and fidelity in following Jesus

Come back to the Lord

Thus, regardless of our sins , the Father reaches us; and if we have the courage to open the pages, His love writes a new story in our life. He who loves wants to be near, and the Father desires to be close to man, to dwell in his heart. He spares no effort to show us his love (Rom 8:32). Therefore, even as prodigal children, if we repent, we can return home because we are reached by the Father.