Unconditionally

 

To the skies

May I praise God to the skies

In joy and in sorrow

With laughs and cries

Today and tomorrow

Because He loves me

Unconditionally

May I love Him there

As high as Heaven can be

And inside me, somewhere

Though my eyes cannot see

~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote the poem/prayer above on my Easter card this year. Then, I read it again and I stopped on the word "unconditionally", asking myself if it was correct to say God's love is unconditional. Yes, it is, but I was thinking about it.

First of all, I have considered that we have some established conditions for having a good relationship with God, like the Commandments, for example. But they were given because of our wrong way of thinking. We think the opposite way. As a consequence of sin — absence of love — introduced in our thoughts (original sin), we behave wrongly, without love for God and for each other. Commandments were given for us to understand how love should be practised in our world. We are created to love God and each other. Jesus said:

— “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)

— "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." (John 13:34).

The heart of the matter is that absence of love is about rejecting God, which we call sin. We are the ones who are distancing ourselves from God when we commit sins. God's love for us is still present despite our sinfulness.

Sometimes, we don't know what we are doing. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:24) This phrase is for all of us, not only for the executioners of Calvary.

When we know something is wrong and we do it anyway, we need to repent in order to draw closer to God again. We have the fragility to commit sins, but also the divine grace of the time for repentance. Oh, how loving is the Sacrament of Reconciliation given to us in this time!

When we insist on rejecting God, then it is our decision to distance ourselves from Him; He created us with the capacity for free will.