Catherine of Siena: God loved us first

Thursday, October 7, 2010
Meditation:
    Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
    —1 John 4:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    He has loved us without being loved... We are bound to Him, and not He to us, because before He was loved, He loved us... There it is, then: we cannot... love Him with this first love. Yet I say that God demands of us, that as He has loved us without any second thoughts, so He should be loved by us. In what way can we do this, then? ... I tell you, through a means which he has established, by which we can love Him freely; ... that is, we can be useful, not to Him—which is impossible—but to our neighbour... To show the love that we have for Him, we ought to serve and love every rational creature and extend our charity to good and bad, as much to one who does us ill service and criticizes us as to one who serves us. For, ... His charity extends over just men and sinners.
    ... Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Saint Catherine of Siena as seen in her letters, J. M. Dent, 1906, p. 83 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we can but reflect the love You have shown us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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