Please read the passage above before reading the commentary.)
Catholics celebrate Christ’s love for us on the third Friday after Pentecost with special emphasis. We contemplate the love God has had and still has for each. When we were his enemies through sin, God sent his Son to save us. Christ gave up his life to reconcile us to God.
Now that God has done this, and since God has done this, now that we are reconciled with God and have become God’s friends, is there anything that God would deny us?
We once were negative, minuses; now we are pluses. We once were enemies; now we are friends. If God cannot refuse gifts to enemies, is not God more likely to keep on giving more and more to those who have become friends of God’s.
We once were disinherited, but now we are inherited. If God would risk life and limb to bring back one stray, would God then starve that one to death instead of giving him food, love, and everything else needed for growth and life.
It is as if God were to give us millions of dollars to pay off our old debts and then turn around to give us millions more to keep us going.
There is no end to the love God has for us. We have celebrated Christ’s death that has reconciled us to God. We have reflected on the resurrection of Christ for seven weeks. We have celebrated the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives. Now we step back and add up the tally: God’s love is boundless and without end. God has reconciled us to himself and has given us all the gifts God has to keep us going. Greater love than this no one has, than to forgive one’s enemies and then give them one’s own life. This God has done for us. That is love. This is worth celebrating.