“There is a Father Who is above all fathers, Who loves you and will never cease to love you, if you so desire” (Father’s message to Sr. Eugenia Ravasio).
The love of our Heavenly Father is always there for us, but there is a condition for it to enter our hearts. This condition is our willingness and therefore our readiness to receive it and to respond to it.
At first it may seem strange that our Father should mention this explicitly. Is it not obvious that we want to be loved? Actually, yes, because we are created out of love and for love. And yet it seems that it is not as obvious as it should be.
St. Francis was once found weeping, and the reason for his tears was that “love is not loved”.
So what can keep us from embracing God’s love? Perhaps the misconceptions we have about love? Maybe the fear of being forced into something we don’t want? Perhaps the fear of losing something and no longer having control over our lives? Perhaps certain negative experiences of false and possessive love prevent us from opening up to the Lord? Or are we closed by the fact that we still want to possess ourselves and hold the reins in our hands? Maybe we are afraid of love?
There may be many reasons that prevent us from fully opening ourselves to the love of our Father. They all have one thing in common: they are false and prevent us from receiving the greatest gift that God wants to give us in time and eternity.
Because of His incredible gentleness, God does not force us to love Him. He remains at the door of our heart, knocking again and again. His courtship is always an invitation that sets us free. God does not force us, but He suffers when we do not respond to His love, especially for our sake.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, […] how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Mt 23:37).