It is important to realise that in loving us, our Father makes himself vulnerable. We can see this especially in the Passion of his Son. A very sensitive point for the Father’s Heart is when we have a false respect for Him, derived from fear of God, which then tends to manifest itself also in the relationship with His ecclesiastical representatives.
As important as reverence and due respect for God is, it is totally wrong to be afraid of a loving Father. In the Message to Sister Eugenia, He speaks about it in these terms:
“If you love Me as faithful children, you will also have loving and obedient respect for My Church and My representatives. Not a respect such as you show now, which keeps you distant from Me because you are afraid of Me. This false respect that you have now is an injustice to justice, it is a wound you cause to the most sensitive part of My Heart; you are forgetting, scorning, My fatherly love for you”.
Can we not perhaps understand this from our own human experience? Suppose we love a person with all our heart, but he is afraid of us and distrustful of us. Surely this would wound us! It is the same in our relationship with our Father… Our trust honours Him and fills His heart with joy. False respect, on the other hand, distances us from Him and erects barriers. The devil, for his part, uses this attitude of ours for his dark plans.
Let us listen again to the voice of the Father:
“What most grieved Me about My people, Israel, and what most afflicts Me still about present-day humanity, is this ill-conceived respect you have of Me. Man’s enemy has, in fact, used it to lead him to fall into idolatry and schisms. He is still using it and will continue to use it against you to keep you distant from the truth, from My Church and from Me. Oh, do not allow yourselves to be led any longer by the enemy; believe in the truth that is being revealed to you and walk in the light of this truth!”
We are called to proclaim this loving God and to bear witness to Him, so that people may overcome all false impressions and images of God. It is the Father’s deep desire that people should know, honour and love Him as He truly is. Only then can this marvellous love of God for us unfold in fullness, rejoicing our hearts to the very depths. From this fountain will then flow a living water, which will reach the souls of the thirsty and quench their thirst.