Reflection: Our Father's Love...

"Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; but they did not know that I cared for them.  I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like those who raise an infant to their cheeks; I bent down to feed them."  Hosea 11:3-4

What a beautiful image!  Our Heavenly Father draws us with human cords, with bands of love.  He raises us up tenderly to His cheek.  He is always seeking us.  He will never let us go.  He will never abandon us. 

Last month, I heard a talk given by a wonderful seminarian Phil.  He spoke of God's Condescension of Compassion as "God stooping down to us." This image of God stooping down to us has returned to my mind often.  Below is a beautiful passage from Pope Saint Leo the Great about the Condescension of Compassion.  He describes how Christ’s incarnation “enlarged” humanity but did not “diminish” His divinity:

He took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself.

Thus the Son of God enters this lowly world. He comes down from the throne of heaven, yet does not separate himself from the Father’s glory. He is born in a new condition, by a new birth.

He was born in a new condition, for, invisible in his own nature, he became visible in ours. Beyond our grasp, he chose to come within our grasp. Existing before time began, he began to exist at a moment in time. Lord of the universe, he hid his infinite glory and took the nature of a servant. Incapable of suffering as God, he did not refuse to be a man, capable of suffering. Immortal, he chose to be subject to the laws of death.

He who is true God is also true man. There is no falsehood in this unity as long as the lowliness of man and the pre-eminence of God coexist in mutual relationship.

As God does not change by his condescension, so man is not swallowed up by being exalted. Each nature exercises its own activity, in communion with the other. The Word does what is proper to the Word, the flesh fulfills what is proper to the flesh.

One nature is resplendent with miracles, the other falls victim to injuries. As the Word does not lose equality with the Father’s glory, so the flesh does not leave behind the nature of our race.

One and the same person – this must be said over and over again – is truly the Son of God and truly the son of man. He is God in virtue of the fact that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is man in virtue of the fact that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

This prayer ministry began praying for a little unborn baby who would need heart surgery after she was born.  After her birth, the doctors wanted her to gain a little weight before the surgery.  Feeding her was an all consuming task since she would tire easily.  It would take her so long to drink two ounces that, by the time she was done, it was time for another feeding.  Her Dad came up with a little way to help her drink.  He held the bottle in her mouth and placed his thumb and index finger on her cheeks, gently pressing her cheeks to help her suck.  When she was a few months old, weighing five pounds, the heart surgery was done.  She is a little miracle. The image of Our Father comes to mind as I remember this Dad and precious baby.  Our Heavenly Father cares for us, tenderly, raising us up to His cheek and holding us with human cords, with bands of love.  God sent His Son to feed us with the Eucharist and He gave us His Word to nourish us.  

Let us ponder this beautiful image!  The Condescension of Compassion is "God stooping down to us."  Our Heavenly Father draws us with human cords, with bands of love.  He is always seeking us.  He will never abandon us.  He will never let us go.  He raises us up tenderly to His cheek.