God really loves me

On the first Sunday of Lent, the church celebrates the Rite of Election. During that ceremony, the church affirms the intent of those who asked to be baptized and received into the Catholic Church. As their names are enrolled, they are numbered among the elect who will receive the sacraments of initiation – baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist – at the Easter Vigil.

This year’s Rite of Election in the Archdiocese of Baltimore was beautiful. The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen was filled to overflowing. Nearly 800 catechumens and candidates for reception into the church were joined by their godparents, sponsors, families and friends. The joy was palpable. The church is alive, growing and full of hope.

Afterward, I greeted those who participated in the service. A young woman took me aside and spoke to me. “It wasn’t easy getting here,” she said. “Most of my life, I believed in God, but God always seemed distant. I didn’t think he was interested in me or cared about me. I had a hard time believing that he loved me.”

“What changed your mind?” I asked. “Not long ago,” she said, “I met some Catholics my own age, Catholics who really love the Lord and the church. As they talked about their faith, I looked at my own life. I realized that God wasn’t far away from me. I kept walking away from him. So here I am!”

As we mark the end of our Lenten journey and prepare for the solemn celebrations of Holy Week, let us take to heart what this young person shared with me.

Let me suggest two points for prayer and reflection:

First, the Lord really does love us. As St. Paul wrote in Galatians, “He loves me, and he gave his life for me” (2:20). This is what we solemnly celebrate in Holy Week. God sent his Son to become one of us, to preach the Good News of redemption, to heal the sick, to institute the Eucharist, and then to suffer and die for the forgiveness of sins, only to rise in triumph on that first Easter morning.

As we witness anew Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem, sit with the Apostles in the Upper Room, walk the way of the Cross and stand guard at the entrance to the tomb, let us ask for the grace to realize what the Lord has done for us. He didn’t redeem us from afar. He didn’t wave a wand. No, he penetrated to the depth of existence where rages the battle between good and evil, sin and grace, life and death – and in our flesh, in our humanity he won for us the victory.

This is something that God did for everyone, for he wants everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. But God also did it for each of us personally. You and I need to ponder what the young woman told me on the steps of the cathedral: “God wasn’t far away from me. I kept walking away from him.”

This young woman’s words offer us a second takeaway. She told me how she discovered Christ and began to follow Christ thanks to the friendliness and witness of Catholic young adults. Their witness to the faith touched her heart and opened her mind to the presence and reality of God’s love. Let us remember this when we imagine that our good example and witness to faith makes no difference. It does make a difference!

As we make our way to Mass on Easter Sunday, let us make it the goal of our lives to share in the victory over sin and death our Savior won for us.

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