Receiving God’s Love: Part 1

My junior year of college I went on a mission trip to St. Louis to serve with the Missionaries of Charity. On our day off we visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and I remember thinking, “If I get married, I want to get married here.”

Sixteen years later, I found myself again in this stunning cathedral. I am a very different person than I was sixteen years ago.

And as I sat in the very back row, looking up at the magnificent architecture and paintings, this phrase kept going through my mind:

This is how God sees me.

The majestic artwork. The lofty ceilings. The grand mosaics.

I am even more beautiful in God’s eyes.

But why is it hard for me to receive God’s love? I know God is my loving Father. I know I am his beloved daughter.

In the next few weeks I want to share four ways I have come to experience more of God's love.

Sitting in the cathedral, looking above me, I remembered the words Fr. Mike Schmitz shared in his homily reflections during Advent. He suggested our posture towards God to be such as “You are God. I am not.”

The first step on the journey to experiencing God’s love is to humble ourselves, to take the focus off of us, and to look at our Creator. Our Father. Our Redeemer. Our Lord.

You are God. I am not.

Sitting in the cathedral, whispering these words to God, I felt a noticeable release of pressure. It’s not all up to me. I am doing enough. God is God and I am not. There was so much peace in just surrendering to this truth and resting in God’s presence.

And in this posture of kneeling down before Our Heavenly Father, we empty ourselves. And as we empty ourselves and humbly sit at His feet, we are opening up our heart to Him.

There have been moments this past week when I have prayed these words, You are God. I am not. And I can feel within me an emptying of myself and a readiness to receive.

I invite you this week to listen to Chris Tomlin’s song “Good Father”. You can listen to it here.

You're a good, good Father
It's who You are, it's who You are, it's who You are
And I'm loved by You
It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am

And I’ll see you next week to continue our journey into the heart of God’s love!