For Tuesday: If we fully understood! Amazement!

Have you ever been stunned by serious thoughts of God's love for you? Today's readings lead you to St. Paul's thoughts about what we have designated as original sin. Try to imagine yourself as God -- don't let it go to your head!!! But imagine, there was a moment when your plan was to create human beings. And there would naturally be one man to start the whole human race. Do you think that you could have not held back the gift of a free will to your creatures? That would be so foreign to your love for humankind. Yet, as God you knew there would be the Adam and Eve story. You knew that your creations would turn against you and your will because of their weakness and their misuse of the free will gift. This is where the remarkable experience of your love is so powerful, so explosive, so far reaching, so very wonderful. You know that you have to have your Son be born. Sure that is a great moment. However, the pain is just beginning. You know that the Son you love so much was be tortured and crucified to atone for the sins of humankind. This is truly your gift of abundance to the people you have created. Would you, in your role as God, have been able to do all of this?

Now back to the real world. Do we allow ourselves to understand fully the truly incredible love of God for each one of us? Could you have created and forgiven in such a way? Do you know the gift of redemption in your life? The answer to these questions is what stirred on the man the Church honors today, St Paul of the Cross. He became a priest and founded the Passionist congregation of priests. In the footsteps of his namesake, Paul of Tarsus, St. Paul of the Cross and his Passionists realized how graced we have been and made it their mission to remind humankind that it was the love of God that brought about the wonders of divine forgiveness.