“When this great God created us with the plan to require of us that pleasant duty of loving Him and this honorable tribute, he willed to place in us the seed of love, which is our resemblance to Him, so that we may not excuse ourselves, saying that we don’t have the means to pay it. This lover of our hearts, seeing that sin had unfortunately spoiled and obliterated this resemblance, willed to break all the laws of nature in order to repair this damage, but with such a marvelous benefit that He wasn’t content with placing in us the resemblance and mark of His divinity, but even willed, by the same plan that we should love Him, to make himself like us and clothe himself with our very humanity. And who, then, would be willing to refuse such a just and salutary duty?” (CCD:XI:conference 102).
Vincent de Paul
Reflection:
- Maybe we should start our reflection from the end. To what does the “just and salutary duty” that man has with the great God refer? The answer is in the beginning: “loving Him.” In other words: fulfill the obligations derived from the first of the Commandments which, in turn, emanates from the fact of Creation.
- I like the possibility that God resembles the human being. He could have stayed in His glory. I recognize that here the God of Jesus Christ is very different from other divinities. Not only has he inverted the social scale, he has destroyed it. A nice song says: “Take God to the factory where you work …” Perhaps it is in the “factory” (Pope Francis says “smell of sheep”) where we find the key to encounter the Biblical Christ…
- From this abasement of God, I agree with Mr. Vincent when he asked if I “would be willing to refuse such a just and salutary duty?,” although I would say “invitation.”
Questions for dialogue:
- Do I let myself be influenced by God?
- Does my community have favorable times for the encounter with God?
- Do I worry about finding places of encounter with God?
- Where does the encounter with God take me?
Mitxel Olabuenaga, C.M.
Mitxel.OlabuenagaOrnes
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