Five Ten Reasons I Love Him

The rules: Those tagged will share 5 things they love about Jesus/why they love Jesus. Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers and will provide a link in the comments section here with their name so that others can read them.

Karen Edmisten tagged me for this meme and I really didn’t think I was going to join in. What did I have to say? Reading Karen’s answers, it seemed like she’d said it all and I didn’t want to merely echo her.

But then a little later I prayed the Office of Readings and suddenly in the middle of prayer I had answers welling up and pouring forth. I picked up my laptop and made a list. Then went back to my prayers. Then I had to stop again to add a few more things to the list. I couldn’t stop at just five either. There are too many ways that I love him.

I love you, Lord; you are my strength. (Antiphon 1 from today’s Office of Readings)

1. Because He is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) To me words are powerful things. That God is Word just makes sense to me. It makes me happy. Pondering the first sentence of the Gospel of John always makes me feel warm and thrilling. Like reading a love letter. Oh and so many other words too.

2. Because of the Eucharist. God becomes food so that I can eat Him so that I can become one with Him. That is just so bizarre and so beautiful. How can a little piece of bread contain the creator of the universe? Once a former Catholic become protestant came to my door evangelizing and I found myself at a loss for words. He told me that when he was Catholic he never received Jesus into his heart. It wasn’t until he’d left that I realized how I should have responded: But every time we go to Mass we receive Jesus not only into our hearts but into our mouths and bodies as well!!!! Jesus. In my heart. And in my stomach! Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. It’s just too weird. Too beautiful. I couldn’t make this stuff up.

3. Because he gave me his mother. Woman, behold your son….Behold your mother. (John 19:26-27) Even though I’m a a cradle Catholic, it took me a long time to “get” Mary on a personal level. But when I started praying about it, asking him to help me understand Mary and draw close to her, then I totally fell in love with her. She teaches me how to say “yes” to him and for that I am so grateful. 

4. Because of the Mass. The Mass is literally heaven on earth. We are present with Christ, our high priest who is in the sanctuary of heaven, presenting our prayers to the Father. All the angels and saints are with us. Even when I’m distracted and tired and not thinking about it, still He is there with me. Oh what a gift!

5. Because he speaks to me through my children. I don’t think I loved him nearly as well before He gave me my children. Hearing them pray just melts my heart: On the lips of children and of babes you have found perfect praise. They teach me how to love, they show me how desperately I need to pray.

6. Because of the Incarnation. He dwelt among us. He the maker of the Universe became a part of His creation. He became flesh. A little baby, a toddler taking his first steps, a tiny boy playing with sticks, a teenager with raging hormones, a man. He knew hunger and thirst, sadness and tears, happiness and joy, pain and suffering, love and affection. And mosquito bites. I’m pretty sure he suffered from the agony of mosquito bites just like the rest of us do.

7. Because of the sacraments. Part and parcel of him becoming flesh is that matter is good. Things are good. And so we can reach him through things. Water, oil, bread, wine, the physical touch of other people. These things, this matter becomes a path to the divine. I’ve received six of the seven sacraments and each one fills me with awe.

8. Because of the cross. Because though it could have been enough that he became man, that could have been sufficient. But he wanted more, he wanted to join us in our darkest hour. So that we never suffer alone but always have with us one who knows our pain not just in a hypothetical sense but because he’s been there too.

9. Because he gave us his Church. He gave us a family, a worldwide family that spans the ages. A place to call home no matter what foreign land we may sojourn in. Brothers and sisters whose faces I’ve never seen but who are with me in spirit. People whose names I don’t know but who love me nevertheless. All of us one in him.

10. Because he gave us the Popes, the successors of Peter. He gives us shepherds who he inspires with his spirit so that their performance of their job doesn’t rely on their own feeble human strength. Shepherds to show us the path so that we might not wander off into the wilderness. Because if I had to find my own way, I’d be lost.

If you want to join in, leave a link to your list in the comments.