To hate your neighbor as yourself

Sometimes I experience things that makes me frustrated with who I am and hateful to myself. Knowing how good God is to me only makes things worse. I start hating who I am because of the wrong that I have done and the good that I have failed to do. I start hating who I am because of the wrong that I am inclined to do and the good that I am inclined to ignore. I start hating myself because of the wrong that I will eventually do and the good that I will never do. I start hating who I am because of my weakness to carry my cross and follow Christ. I start questioning my goodness and end up judging myself unworthy of God's grace and fit for being disposed of in God's trashcan.

Then I remember Jesus commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself" [Mark 12:31]. Since I truly want what He wants more than anything else, I am challenged to turn around and change my way of thinking. If I am hating who I am because of my weaknesses or because of what I have done, what I am inclined to do, and what I will do, then I cannot in reality be patient and forgiving and therefore loving to others who similarly struggle with their own demons and weaknesses. I am confident that patience and forgiveness are the natures of love, for St. Paul tells us that "Love is patient ... not irritable or resentful ... bears all things ... endures all things" [1 Corinthians 13: 4-7].

For example, if I have aborted my child in the past and have moved on and accepted God's forgiveness, but have been unable to forgive myself, resenting myself, and considering myself unworthy of a new start, then in reality I am not capable of forgiving another person who had done the same hurtful act. Not to forgive is not to love.

Similarly, planning to do what is good and failing to follow through with it is not an open door for resentment, hatred of oneself, or judging oneself unworthy; otherwise that same hatred and resentment would also transfer into judging others the same way, diminishing the hope of a new start. Did St. Peter not promise to follow Christ to death " I will lay down my life for you" (John 13:37) and hours later denied him three times? (John 18:15-18) Was he not later empowered by Christ's love to shepherd his brothers and sisters? (John 21:15-19)

God is an expert at taking our garbage and making good out of it. (See Genesis to Revelation) My sins and empty promises of the past are my garbage and being aware of them assures my ability to forgive (and therefore love) those who commit their own kinds of faults and empty promises. I cannot hate who I am for being inclined to do wrong and being weak to do good and claim that I love others around me who struggle with their own crosses.

In order to truly love others, I must love myself. The first cannot be done without the other. Through faith I am holding on the Spirit of Christ who is in me, who humbles me, instructs me, inclines me toward what is good, and strengthens me to bring it to fulfillment and to love others as I love myself.

In loving myself and others I am also loving God. St. Catherine of Sienna realized that the only thing she can give God back for loving her so much is loving those around her; since God is in need of nothing, she could only pay him back in loving others. St. John tells us "Beloved if God so loved us , we also must love one another... If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us." [1 John 4:11-12].

Why am I Catholic? (Part VI: Conclusion)

At the end of this testimony of why I am Catholic, I will sum it up as follows: In being Catholic I am called to live a life of faith based on Holy Scriptures and Holy Catholic Church teachings as guided by the Holy Spirit. In being Catholic I am called to see the good in all people, to see Christ in everyone around me with no exception, to confess my sins and forgive others, to partake of his body and blood, to trust in God’s love and mercy, to acknowledge God’s immanence and transcendence, to profess God’s mystery and revelation, to love Mary as my mother, to love the Saints and the poor sinners as my brothers and sisters. There is so much more to say such as the grace of God through his seven sacraments, but what I wrote suffice for now.

Finally it is through Catholicism that I confess Christ as my light, my life, my truth, my hope, my way, my salvation, my God, and my beloved. I am what I am by the grace of God but having said all what I said I also give glory to God for being present to his beloved ones outside Catholicism and Christianity. May God have mercy on my ignorance and forgive my hidden pride for he proclaimed through his prophet: "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Why am I Catholic? (Part V: Saints)

It is said, why do Catholic talk to the dead such as talking to the Saints? Should they not only talk to God? Are they not offending God? Well, we talk to them, because Jesus talked to them. At the transfiguration we read: “Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him [Jesus]” (Matthew 17:3). Was Jesus not talking to the dead when he said: “Lazarus come out” (John 12:43), or “Talitha Koum [Little girl arise!]” (Mark 5:41), or “Young man, I tell you arise!” (Luke 7:14). Were they all dead to him? Jesus himself answered this question: "Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive" (Luke 20:37-38).

To answer the first question above, we must also ask in return why does God sometimes talks to us directly, such as when he spoke to Abraham, “I am God the Almighty” (Genesis 17:1), Moses, “I am who am” (Exodus 3:14), or Saul, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5), and other times talk to us through his prophets and angels such as when the angel Gabriel spoke to Zechariah and to Mary (Luke 1)? Just like God talk to us sometimes directly and other times indirectly through angels, prophets, and Saints, we too communicate with him directly as well as through angels, prophets, and Saints. It gives God glory to work through all his created beings in heaven and on earth to communicate his message of love and salvation, and all due worship to God alone.

If my best friend came to see me and he walked in my home and hugged me and kissed me and said nothing to my wife and kids for fear of taking away from me, then he does not really know me. My joy would be greater if he acknowledges my family and loved them for my sake. It is the same way with God. Asking Mary to pray for my wife as she gives birth, reminding her that she gave birth to the baby Jesus one day is pleasing to God. Asking St. Paul to help me teach a new lesson to a new group of people that I never saw before is pleasing to God. Asking St. Peter to pray for me when I deny Christ several times, or St. Thomas to pray for me when I am anxious and doubtful is not counter to God rather it gives glory to God. As long as I worship God alone I am within his will.

Why am I Catholic? (Part IV: Mary)

On a personal note, it is very hard for me to be rational when it comes to Mary the mother of God. I must admit that I am overly biased toward her, and completely in love with her that I am not qualified to make a logical argument on her God given role toward humanity. What credibility has a son in defending his mother? Having confessed that, my argument about being Catholic would not be complete without a few words on Mary the mother of Jesus, yet what I begin here is only the start.

I say Mary, because she is the perfect example of a true Christian who says 'yes' to God in how she lived her life. She is rarely mentioned in Holy Scriptures because of her humility, but what is said about her is enough, to those who trust God. Some will say that if she was mentioned more in the Bible that would have given her more credibility. I say not true, for the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is mentioned over and over again and just as at the time of Jesus people refused to believe, today many do the same.

Tell me who recounted to Luke and Matthew the infancy stories? Who was there with Mary when the angel Gabriel called her "full of grace" (Luke 1:28)? Who else heard the Angel Gabriel who “stands before God”(Luke 1:19) tell her: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35)? Who heard her reply to the Angel of God: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38)?

Who among us after an encounter with an Angel informing us that we are to be the mother of “the Most High” (Luke 1:32), the mother of the “holy Son of God” (Luke 1:35), would pack and travel to serve an elderly pregnant cousin and her husband, washing their cloths, mopping their floors, cooking and cleaning for them? Why else did you think she went to visit Elizabeth while she herself was pregnant? Did she not receive Christ and immediately took his spirit of service to others. Did he not say later: “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45)?

Did you remember the words of Elizabeth to her while filled with the Holy Spirit: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Luke 1:42-45). What did Mary say? “My soul proclaim the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold from now on will all ages call me blessed …” (Luke 1:46-48f)

These are not words simply placed here by Luke to complete a story. They are rather inspired by the Holy Spirit and willed by God to be in our Holy Scriptures so that they may teach us the truth once we humble ourselves to accept it. No one can truly believe how God has elevated Mary and at the same time deny Christ humanity and divinity. Without these words and others like them the early Church would not have been able to call her "the mother of God", and seal the unity of Christ as fully human and fully divine.

No one knew Jesus more than his mother. Who carried the Lord God in her womb for nine months? Who suffered most at his birth? Who suffered most at his death? Are you aware of the suffering of a mother seeing her innocent son brutally killed in front of her own eyes? Who kept him warm and safe? Who nourished him with her milk? Who changed his diaper? Who wiped his tears when he was sad? Who laughed with him when he was being funny? Who taught him how to pray? Who spoke to him about life and suffering and joy as he got older? Who prepared his meals and spoke with him way into the night? Who spent thirty years taking care of him? Who pondered about his life’s mysteries and “kept all these things reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:19; 2:51)?

Who was with him at his first public miracle and who told him his hour has come. (John 2:4)? Which one of us was told by an angel that her son will be "The Son of the Most High, ... and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33) only to see him thirty-three years later suffering death on a cross? Who was present both when he was incarnated and when he gave up his soul? Which one of us suffered the most when he was dying on the cross? Which one of us was made the mother of all whom Jesus loved (John 19:26). The answer to all these questions is the new woman Mary, God’s new creation for his Son.

I am well aware that there is only one Triune God and Mary knows that even more than I do. Her role in humanity is to point us to Christ. She brought Christ to Elizabeth, she brought him to Joseph, she brought him to the shepherds and to the Magi, she brought him to Simeon and Anna, she brought him to the teachers in the temple, she brought him to Cana. Today she brings him to us. If our hearts are humbled like hers, the Holy Spirit will overshadow us and give birth to Christ in our heart.

Why am I Catholic? (Part III: Eucharist)

I say the "Eucharist" because it is miraculously Christ among us, in the form of bread and wine. Just like the Son of God is Jesus the Son of man, so is the Son of God the bread and wine made present and accessible to those of us who believe, physically and spiritually uniting us with him and each other.

St. Paul asks: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?"(1 Corinthians 10:16). St. Paul tells us that he received directly from Christ instructions regarding his presence in the bread and wine: "For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, 'this is my body, that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.' ... Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:23-27).

In John 6:53-69 we read: "Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life … For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him … Many of his disciples who were listening said, 'This saying is hard; who can accept it?' … As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the twelve, 'Do you also want to leave?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." I too stand with St. Peter and echo his words.

Why am I Catholic? (Part II: Pope)

I say the "Pope" because I believe, from the start, Jesus wanted all his followers to be one Church: "I pray ... so that they may all be one, as you Father are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us" (John 17:20-21).

When we listen to Jesus’ words to St. Peter with a humble heart and an open mind, we understand how important it is for Christ that we are united. In the beginning of Jesus' ministry he told Peter: "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it" (Mathew 16:18). And at the end of his ministry, he told him: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? ... Feed my lambs. ... Simon son of John, do you love me? ... Tend my sheep... Simon, son of John, do you love me? ... Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17). We will always be Christ’s: “my sheep” and “my lambs,” yet it is his choice that we are lead on earth by one person whom he assigns, so that we may always have unity.

It is to Peter that Jesus said: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:31-32). It is also to Peter that Jesus said: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). We must humble our hearts and acknowledge that these are the words of Jesus to whom he has chosen to lead his church united in love.

Our Lord Jesus is aware of the human weaknesses of our Catholic Church. Nothing has changed much in human behavior since he lived among us. Did he not handpicked twelve apostles, teaching them, doing miracles in their site? All of them, save John, left him when he was arrested, however all, save John, died martyred for him. As much as Peter loved Jesus, he denied him three times, did he not? Yet Jesus brought him back to him asking him to lead his Church three times empowered by his love for Christ. Another example of corruption in our Church starting with the time of Jesus, is Judas who would have been forgiven had he trusted in the mercy of Christ and the sovereignty of God even through death. Another Church leader would be Thomas who denied himself to have faith on the words of his colleagues, yet Christ brought him back to him and Thomas made the most aggressive faith statement in the New Testament about the divinity of Christ: "My Lord and My God" (John 20:28).

St Paul who was later chosen by Christ as an apostle to the gentiles, had begun in ignorance persecuting the Church until he encountered Christ who identified himself with the Church with the words: "Why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4) The point is that Jesus is aware that his Church is made of people who struggle but he assured us that the doors of hell will not overcome it (Matthew 16:18) because the grace of God is sufficient in human weakness: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Why am I Catholic? (Part I: Christ)

Sometimes when people list for me all the wrong things about the Catholic Church, I first think of how lucky I am that they are only aware of some of them, then I tell them: "I agree with you, have any other church adopt the Pope, the Eucharist, and Mary and I will switch to it."

I will come back to the Pope, the Eucharist, and Mary, but the simple truth is that I am Catholic because I truly believe it is Jesus' will and therefore I can literally stop here and write no more.

Being Catholic is the most humbling of all forms of Christianity because it is not a journey of the one with God, but of the many. As a person living in the 21st century, I am dependent in my journey of faith on the prayers, truth, and testimonies of others around me today as well as others who lived before me. This relational dependency journeying toward the Father, guided by the Holy Spirit and centered on Christ is our Church.

For example, on what basis I can be sure that the Christian faith is the true faith? Or how do I know that the Christian Bible is the Word of God? How am I sure that when I read it I am interpreting it correctly? There are so many churches today and so many different interpretations, all accredited to the Holy Spirit. How do I know who has it right? God will give to the one who asks in humility. As for me, the light comes enough to guide my small steps and I am being guided centered on Christ and within his Catholic Church.

I am today a part of a Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church, journeying with God and through God and toward God with my brothers and sisters and the whole universe as a matter of fact. It is not Holy because its members are without sin, but rather because it is entrusted to God’s will, it is universal in being inclusive of every nation, ant it is Apostolic in starting with the twelve chosen but Christ and evolving in unity.

Satanic attack on the family: The truth will set you free. (5/5)

“No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other” [Matthew 6:24].

When we are committing sin and not letting go of it, we are slaves to it no matter how clever we justify ourselves in pretending that we are free. "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin" [John 8:34]. Our loving God calls us to his light, away from a life of darkness. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" [John 8:12]. Yet he calls us to love him freely without overwhelming our free will.

God's call is his grace to us, and our positive response to grace can only begin with humility. Without humility we can do nothing good. We remain instead self-absorbed, self-justified, and self-righteous. Only by humbling ourselves, we can respond positively to God’s call and start walking toward freedom in the light of truth. "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" [John 8:31]. Yet being humble is itself a given grace.

If you are not aware of God's grace within you, kneel in front of a crucifix, the symbol of grace, love, and humility, and speak to God with whatever comes to your mind. You will find yourself saying words like these: "My God I don't even know if you exist. I don't even know that I want to turn to you. I am so attached to my way of life that I find it so hard to turn to you. My will is not yours, and my actions and thoughts are far from yours. But God, if I am lost in darkness let me hear your voice and show me who I am and what have I become, enlighten me from within and have mercy on my distorted will. Cover my shame with your mercy and give me humility so that I may see the light of truth and have the new will to turn toward you. I have nothing to offer other than my sins, disbelief, and mistrust in your ways, but if you are truly here and can hear me, then save me from myself. I ask for humility so that I might have faith and live." When you are done speaking, listen for days to come.

God’s grace is sometimes infused directly in our souls, such as when we suddenly gain a new insight from within, that brings us joy in sensing God's presence and we simply and easily let go of what bonds us and turn toward the light. At other times God chooses to reach us through our senses such as seeing or hearing something or meeting someone that draws us closer to God. Since the gift of self is the greatest gift one can give, the greatest grace that we would ever receive is Christ. Humility is a state of awareness of who we are and what we are capable of doing. We need first the grace to be humble and then we will be more receptive to receive all other graces from God.

If you are dwelling in darkness, humble your heart and respond to the one who made you to be his beloved son not a slave. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” [Matthew 11:28-30].

Our Lord Jesus Christ says: "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened." [Luke 11:9-10] And once we are God’s we are assured that no one can take us out of his hand (John 10:28).

Satanic attack on the family: I love you more. (4/5)

When Adam first saw Eve, he said: "A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh" [Genesis 2:24]. When Jesus was asked about divorce, he responded: "From the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate" [Mark 10:6-10].

Today, divorce is very common and in some cases, I must admit, it is necessary. However, my focus here is on those who disrespect and humiliate themselves and their spouses even prior to any divorce. How did our Lord respond to them?

A woman was once caught in adultery and was brought to Jesus, and he was asked: "Teacher, . . . In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say" [John 8:5]. "Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, 'Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She replied, 'No one, sir.' Then Jesus said, 'neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore" [John 8:6-11]. And so must we do, throw our stones on the ground, walk away, and leave the accused ones to God, since none of us measures up anyway.

Jesus knew that the woman's accusers were not interested in seeing her repent but condemned. It does feel good to condemn in others the wrong we see in ourselves. He wrote on the ground, probably their deepest hidden secrets, so that whomever looked at the ground to pick up stones and heard the words of Jesus, realized that God knew their hearts (John 2:25).

Jesus did not excuse the woman's actions. Instead, he tied her sinfulness with the sinfulness of her accusers, and hence her fate with their fate. He sent them away reflecting on their thoughts and actions in lieu of judging others. He sent her un-judged, saving her life, instructing her to go and sin no more. He called her and them to step out of darkness into the light. But how can one go and sin no more?

Human beings can only let go of something they love by loving something else more. To go and sin no more, she must love a higher beauty, a higher truth, and a higher good, more than she loves her sin. She must love someone more than she loves her sin. She must look at her sin and look back at God and say, “God I love you more.” Each one of us must look at all that surrounds us or come our way and say “God I love you more.” That is how we follow Jesus commandment: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” [Luke 11:27].

Satanic attack on the family: The greater good. (3/5)

“God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” [Genesis 1:27]. We therefore always seek what we conceive as good, beautiful, and true. We may at times choose evil but never intentionally. For example, although God’s way resides in forgiveness not in revenge, when we are offended, we may choose revenge convinced that we are doing the good that our enemies deserve. I believe in absolute right and wrong, but people will always choose what they think is right although it may not be. The same is true with beauty and truth.

Even when we make wrong and evil choices, we make them not in order to seek evil but rather to seek what we consider is good. Adam and Eve chose to eat from the forbidden tree because they were convinced it is "good for food [goodness], pleasing to the eyes [beauty], and desirable for gaining wisdom [truth] " [Gen 3: 6]. In the same way when men or women leave their spouses in pursuit of new lovers, they do it seeking what they justify to be good, beautiful, and true, although it is far from it all.

We are created to seek what is good, beautiful, and true, secondarily, so that we may love and enjoy God’s creation "God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good" [Genesis 1:31]. Primarily, we are ultimately created for God who is the source and summit of beauty, truth, and goodness and we will continue to thirst and hunger in life until we are united with God: "Our heart is restless until it rests in you [God]" (St Augustine)

When we pursue goodness, beauty, and truth outside God's will for us, we are settling for a less; i.e A lesser good, a lesser beauty, and a lesser truth. For example, a child is given two pieces of chocolate and told to share one with his sister. On his way he thought to himself: "It is so good to eat them both" (i.e. a lesser good), then he thought again: "I will instead share one with my sister" (i.e. a greater good). We can see right away that a greater good requires obedience, trust, discipline, sacrifice, selflessness, but most of all love of others. Has he chosen the lesser good, the child would have satisfied a temporal desire. By choosing the greater good, he has brought himself and his sister one-step closer to each other. It is not that the purpose of a greater good is to achieve a higher reward, rather it is chosen out of love and expects no reward but love itself.

Adam and Eve, by choosing a lesser good, loved themselves more than they loved God. Men and women, who leave their spouses for others, love themselves more than they love their spouses and God. But what are we to think of them? By excusing them, we would have excused the pain and suffering that they have caused their spouses and children? By judging them, we would have ignored their suffering in enduring what they considered loveless painful relationships. It is in these situations that we turn to our Lord for guidance, in his sacred scriptures and in his Holy Church.

Satanic attack on the family: God is Love. (2/5)

What does it mean for a Christian to say "I have faith"? Even angels of darkness believe in God. So then why is faith so important for a follower of Christ? The Christian Faith is a trust in God's ways. It is a trust that God is sovereign over all things, and that even when things do not go our way, we trust that God is in control. The Christian faith is a trust that God loves each one of us unconditionally. It is a trust that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." [John 3:16] But how does God love the world?

When I said to God, "Look at this man and look at this woman, look at how angry they are with their spouses and their children, look at how badly they treat them, look at the verbal and physical abuse they put them through, look at the lust that drives and justifies their actions, look at their hatred and their self indulgence and self justification ... crush them Oh God and revenge their spouses, crush them almighty God and avenge their children . . . Justice demands it."

God answered me: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believe in the name of the only Son of God." [John 3:17-18] But again, what does that mean?

God is saying telling me that he loves this man and this woman whom I am asking to be shunned by him. He is telling me that he is the God of mercy and his ways are not our ways. God is loud and clear "Georges, I love this man and I love this woman. I sent my only Son Jesus to save them and not to condemn them. Not only I love them, I love them like you love Alexander and Maya and Michaela even when they wrong each other. If you can imagine your love to your three kids, you would have begun to scratch the surface of my eternal love to this man and this woman that you bring before me."

I asked God, then why do they do what they do? He gave me an image of wolves hunting in the desert, roaming and searching for the weak sheep who have strayed from the flock and the shepherd. He showed me how the wolves lock their feigns into their necks carrying them to be devoured. Then he said: "This man and this woman are my sheep, and although they are farther from me than you are, I love them just the same. Satan's jaws are locked around their necks."

"Do they have hope?" I asked. "I am Jesus their only hope" he answered. Then he added: "The light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God." [John 3: 19-21] That is they have hope only in their capacity to trust in the light, to trust God and seek his truth. That capacity is given when we pray for them. If we judge them, then our salt has lost its taste, we are called to love them and pray for them with love, so that their darkness may turn into the light of Jesus.