The King Who Loves Us

Jesus is our king. His palace is the Mass. His throne is the most Holy Eucharist. His kingdom is at hand. All we need do is open our hands to receive him. He is not the typical king and his kingdom is not the typical kingdom. He broke the mold for kingship. He is not the king who rules us. He is the king who loves us. In place of rules, regulations, red tape and rigmarole, the means by which he governs us is love. In the kingdom of the king who loves us, the citizens govern themselves. We desire to please him. We trip all over ourselves in our eagerness to please him . Wow! Where do I sign up? How do I enlist? How do I join the kingdom of the King who loves sinners like me ?

God gives each of us a small kingdom to rule. The kingdom is within us. Try governing yourself properly before asking God for the power to govern something bigger than yourself .

The Great Mystery

We tortured and killed him. He suffered and died. Yet, he emerged from the dead still alive and still in love with us. He did not stay dead and he did not stop loving us. That he did not stay dead is the proof that Jesus is omnipotent. Nobody emerges alive from the dead. He did. That he did not stop loving us, however, is the proof that our conception of divinity as omnipotence is incomplete. Divinity is more than omnipotence. Divinity is also love. He clung to his love for us, held tight and refused to let go even though we tortured and killed him. With the iron grip of the drowning man tossed overboard into the stormy sea after his ship is sunk, he clung to the life preserver of love. The evil we did to him did not extinguish the bonfire of love that burns for us in his most Sacred Heart or reduce it by even the slightest degree. Like marriage, his love for us is indissoluble . It is available to us whenever we want it - a cornucopia of love that is always available to quench our thirst and to satisfy our hunger. Repent. Turn away from the false gods who do not bear the bloody wounds. They are impostors. They can neither quench our thirst nor satisfy our hunger. Turn to the God with the bloody wounds. Squeeze your contemplation of God through them. They are the narrow gate through which we must pass to arrive at an understanding of God. Jesus impaled on the Cross like a worm on a hook is the way, the truth and the life . Keep this image in the forefront of your mind. Constantly contemplate its meaning. This is the great mystery whose stewardship God entrusted to his Church .

The game of life that we are playing is different than the game that God wants us to play . The stakes are different. To us, the stakes that matter are adversity and prosperity. As we pass through the valley of tears, we try to minimize adversity and maximize prosperity. To God, adversity and prosperity are irrelevant circumstances. There is something much more important for us to do as we pass through the valley of tears than minimizing adversity and maximizing prosperity here on earth. Minimizing adversity and maximizing prosperity are a distraction. What matters to God is our struggle against the monster who intercepts us as we pass through the valley of tears and who tries to wring our hearts dry of love as a wet sponge is wrung dry of water. It is a different game. In the game God wants us to play, victory belongs to those who cling to love, hold tight and refuse to let go - who maintain the resemblance they bear to God. Defeat belongs to those who let their circumstances transmogrify them into the most miserable and hideous of loveless beasts. In our game, we try to control our circumstances. In God's game, we try to control ourselves. The only thing that matters is maintaining our resemblance to God. The greater the love we bear in our hearts, the greater the resemblance we bear to God . God wants us to be like him. Deification is achieved through love.

What is the Source of My High Degree of Confidence in Jesus?

Why do I have a high degree of confidence that God is "my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower ? Because I have listened to the conversation between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The conversation between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection is the game-changer. It moves me. It shifts the paradigm. It alters the trajectory through life of anyone who listens to it and understands it. His gentle answer to our harsh question unmasked the mystery that hid from us the identity of our God. The conversation between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection is the foundation upon which we can build our lives. It is reliable. We can depend on it. Therefore, mount the saddle of your faith upon the conversation between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection and ride it through the valley of tears from godlessness to paradise .

What Drives The Narrative of Salvation?

The narrative of salvation passes from the Crucifixion, through his bloody wounds, to the Resurrection. What drives the narrative of salvation? His love for us drives the narrative of salvation.

Grease

Love is the grease that lubricates the wheels of our passage through the valley of tears.

The Space You Occupy

Fill the space you occupy with love.