“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 Jn 3:1a).
There are many ways to grow in love for God. One of them is to choose a phrase from Sacred Scripture that expresses our Father’s love in a particularly moving way. The Bible abounds in such phrases. Then it is a matter of internalising the chosen word again and again, of talking to the Father about what it tells us, and of thanking Him. Some desert fathers call this “ruminating on the word”. In fact, every word of God comes from His heart and is capable of inflaming ours.
We also know the wonderful attitude of the Virgin Mary, who pondered the word of the Lord in her heart (Lk 2:19,51). That is what it is all about!
Today’s Bible quotation is very suitable for meditating on God’s love. We can feel the joy and gratitude of the author of these words. It makes us realise that we are God’s children, that He has called us to be so close to Him, that we can be His heirs and that He has great riches in store for us
Moved by gratitude for this immense grace, our love for our Father will grow and we will discover more and more what it means to be children of God, because we have a wonderful Father who wants to make us sharers in the riches of His love.
The more we trust Him, the more we will know what it means to be His beloved children, and this certainty will give us great freedom. Then it is no longer just a truth of faith that we receive through this word, but this certainty becomes a marked inner reality that lights up our whole life and takes deep root in us:
We are called children of God and so we are!