December 2001

The Love Who Comes

There seems to be one big question that lies beneath all our other wonderings and ponderings: "Am I significant in God's eyes?" Sebastian Moore puts it another way when he says that we all desire to be desired by the one we desire. We certainly know this to be the case in human relationships. Although the Christian message is resplendent with the message to love one another, there is a deeper sense of meaning and completeness, when we detect that we are attractive to the one whom we find attractive.

All of this has to do with being significant to our origin. Although randomness and chance are all part of our world, we so want to believe that once a bird, or flower, or human person have made an appearance, that flower and that bird and that human being are known by their Maker and are not only important, but very precious.

It seems like the season of Christmas addresses this deep human hungering. At least for a while, differences dwindle, and people open up and reach out to other people. At this time, it is difficult keeping spontaneous love from showing. Through each other, God tells us that we are indeed significant and that this world, God's and ours," would not be the same without us.

My sense is that when people say, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year," they really do want this to be the case for the other person. Truly, the Love who comes enkindles all our other loves and makes them visible.

Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D.