Tuesday after Epiphany, Year C

With what tenderness the Lord has loved us, my dear brothers and sisters. It is as if he yearns for us to discover how much and how beautifully he has loved us all this while, when so very often we are plagued with the temptation to think he is not present in our lives, or he does not care, or that he does not hear our prayers.
Continually in Scripture, God expresses to us his ineffable love, but it is only when he visited us in the flesh, that we were able to see that love unfold among us, in real time, and to the astonishment of all.
The Creator of all things, who made everything perfect for the plan he had in mind for humanity, remains hidden. Through various places, people and events, he has made known to us that we are in the palm of his hand, loved within his tender heart from eternity. Saint John reminds us that it was not us who loved God, but that “he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” And why would he offer himself as an expiation of sins on our behalf? Well, because God’s plan culminates in an eternal paradise with him, but that first we needed to be tried. We needed to be prepared. We needed to be purified.
Sin is so incompatible with God and his holiness and perfection, that it has no quarter in heaven. We are told in scripture that nothing with the least taint of sin is able to reside in paradise with God. But first, God had to create another world, this world, in which we were able to choose him freely. He knows perfectly what life in heaven entails, and he knows perfectly, that this world was needed to prepare us for the next. You see, a lot of us would like to go to heaven, but we’re not ready yet, so he gives us time here, and now, to prepare ourselves – to become more generous, more virtuous, and to espouse humility wholeheartedly. For a lot of us, this takes a lifetime to achieve, through his grace and mercy. Unfortunately, in some of us, pride has so permeated our hearts, that we continually fail to respond to God’s wake up calls. We hit the snooze button, and we remain asleep.
Today is the day we need to arise from our slumber, and continue to try to love one another as Jesus has loved us, yet to be able to do this, we need to be embracing a life of virtue. I need to be patient with my brothers and sisters, kind and generous. I need to forgive those who have hurt me, yes—always. I need to see as Jesus sees, and feel people’s pain the way he does. The story of the good Samaritan has to be our story, where we are able to transcend nationalities, creeds, and colours. We need to love all, with a holy love, a pure love, a love which does honour to the Divine Trinity from whence it comes.
In the gospel, before Jesus feeds the five thousand miraculously, he has pity on them humanly. Humanly and divinely, because of course, Jesus is not just a nice man. He’s God. One it is at odds to pick which of the two is more beautiful—the miracle of multiplying a few loaves and fish to feed thousands, or the compassion with which the Saviour looked upon all those people. One led to the other. When we sympathize with those who struggle, amazing things happen in the heart, and this is where God’s concern hones in on the most—the heart—its condition: is it generous, or cold? Is it embracing or judgmental? Is it joyous or sad? God wants to continue to work miracles within our very hearts. May the Lord, through the intercession of She who possesses an Immaculate Heart, grant us the joy of looking beyond ourselves and finding freedom in serving others. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.