In my Magnificat (a daily Catholic prayer book) I found this quotation last Sunday, from Fr. Richard Veras: “I do not decide my mission, Jesus loves my mission into existence, by continually loving me into existence.”
I love that phrase, “loved into existence.” I realize that this is one of the core beliefs of the whole Judeo-Christian world view. God created the world out of nothing as an act of pure love. He loved the entire world into existence, and He loves each of us into existence.
This view is related to our view of marriage as well. God loves every human person into existence, with the cooperation and collaboration of our earthly parents. This is the birthright of every human being: to be loved into existence. We know that we humans attain this only imperfectly, but this is at the heart of what Almighty God wants for each of us.
At the heart of the universe, is a deep and abiding love, in which we have the opportunity and the invitation to participate. I am not ashamed that this is what my religion teaches me.