Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Do you believe that God loves you? Do you believe that Christ willingly gave his life to save you? Trusting that God loves us can be a hard reality to accept sometimes. We may have had a difficult upbringing, and we were taught that we must earn love from a parent, and thus, we must earn love from God. We may have learned that our worth is based on what we accomplished rather than who we are—if we can’t be perfect, I am unlovable or uncared for by God.
In our Gospel today, Jesus points out the righteousness of the tax collector who admits his sin. There is no denying that we sin, but Jesus shows that the tax collector is deeply loved and even admired by Jesus. In other places, Jesus says that heaven rejoices when a sinner returns to God.
God loves us because he created us, because he is our father, and because, well, he does. When we come to God relying on and trusting in that love, we see the expanse of that love: God rejoices because you are there!
Trust in God’s love.
Reflection by Fr. Etienne Huard, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources