A Challenger on the last weekend (October 24-26) sent this reflection along on our theme - "The Greatest of these is Love":

Jesus’ crucifixion was necessary, but not mandatory. What does this mean? God the Father did not have to send his only son Jesus, to save us. But he did. Jesus did not have to die on the cross for our sins. But he did. The love between the father and the son did not have to send forth the Holy Spirit to guide us. But it did. It was necessary for all this to happen, in order for us to be saved, without it there would be no hope. But it was not mandatory. God had no obligation to do this, he did not cause the fall of man. He could have very well disowned the human race. But he didn’t, out of love he sacrificed his son to save us, and Jesus sacrificed his life to save us. While it was not mandatory, we were and are saved because of the Trinity.

What does this have to do with love? We were saved by love, a popular quote that really resonates is this - “We were created by love, for love, and to love”. This quote is so beautiful because it shows just how great love is. By love: We were created by God the Father. For love and to love: We were created in a way that our very nature is to seek out the universal vocation, to love. To love our God, to love our neighbour, and to love ourselves. We can take this quote one step further by changing it, or rather adding on to it, and say “We were saved by love, for love, and to love”.

De Colores and may God bless all of us as we strive to love God, our neighbour and ourselves.