The readings, particularly the gospels, of the past several days have offered several situations that depicted Jesus give so much of himself and teaching so much of the Father. I believe it is important for you and for me to have an image of God that we can turn to when we speak to him, when we hear his name mentioned and when we read his name. If I asked you, "What is your image of God?" would you be able to respond immediately or would it require of you some thinking and on-the-spot discovery? That was a question that surface during my recent few days away from the parish: What is my image of God?
To begin, I have come to believe that we must have some understanding of the very nature of God. But we realize that we cannot come to understand God apart from what He has done in our lives. If we delve into what it is that God has done we will find at its root that the nature of God is revealed to you and me in the missionary activity of the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Mindful of this, then, we can encapsulate all of God, His nature, in one word: love. Reading the scriptures, we come to see his nature, his love, as "overflowing, outreaching, and passionate" (Rivers, pg 64). The bishops who drafted one of the documents of Vatican II, Ad Gentes, made reference to his nature as "God’s fountain-like love." These words and the image they bring to my mind are a source of prayer. Just take a walk along Pennsylvania Avenue, particularly near the Mellon Gallery. There are a number fountains. Stop and sit near one and think about that description: God’s nature as "God’s fountain-like love."
There is no fountain without a source. God’s activity in the world springs from his abundant love for each one of us. Again, overflowing, outreaching and compassionate. Recalling all that Jesus did and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the world, we should see that the l0ve of God is relational. The Father gifts the Son and Holy Spirit. We in the world as gifted by the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. The very being of God is not to be so much the all powerful one but rather the God who exists for all of us throughout history. Our God exists for the other ... you and me ... not for himself.
St. Augustine wrote these words: "Are you contemplating what God is like? Everything you imagine, God is not. Everything you put in your thoughts, God is not. But if you wish to savor something of God, then know that God is love, the same love by which we love one another."
Fr. Bob Rivers writes that for him God’s love is like the current of a river. Living near two rivers, we might think about another person’s concept or description of God’s love. A river’s current is always flowing outward ... all rivers in the world flow out to one of the world’s seven seas. In some places the river flows smoothly, almost lazily. In other places, over rocks the river’s power, the power of water, becomes evident. A river is always a source that pours itself forward. It is not too often, at least in our country, to hear that a river has dried up.
It is a challenge to us, I think, in our contemporary culture to stop and let the waters of a river run through our hearts and minds. But during these closing days of summer, taking a few moments to think about one of fountains that you have seen or see regularly or taking a look at one of our rivers and its never-ending flowing to the sea, use the moment to think about the never-ending gift that we receive each day: God’s love for us ... and how we, once filled with an awareness of that love, indeed then become ourselves something like a fountain, something like a river ... carrying the love of God forward to others because we ourselves are love. We have become love because God has so much love for us. If we wish, we can become "caught up in the love of the God we cannot see." We can become his outreaching, his compassion to those we meet, to those in need and even to ourselves.
