Unconditional Love

Last Sunday, I went to the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice inside the University of the Philippines to attend mass. I love going there because it's one of the churches that draws you to come and stay.

The priest began talking about the many ways to assure your passage into heaven and he says that God gave one fool proof ticket...be like a child.

Children are, in heart and mind and soul, the closest to God because their innocence allows them to love everyone and everything the way that God himself does....unconditionally. But these days, is it still even remotely possible to do that? With all the damaging social stimuli bombarding us daily, are we still capable of getting in touch with our inner child?

Loving unconditionally goes against many of the social standards that we place a premium on. It is also very difficult to do because in loving unconditionally, we do not give our love in trickles, we give ALL of it, all of ourselves. Nowadays, people tend to measure the amount of love they give out and more often than not, the more they give, the more they expect in return. So how do children do it? How do they surrender their whole heart to love and easily give it back?

Maybe the key is selflessness. Loving and caring for others before yourself. I know, that's hard to do because looking after your own interest becomes second nature to us in this dog eat dog society. But remember, when we fall deeply in love, and we think deep inside that the person deserves all our love, don't we effortlessly give it regardless of the repercussions? Don't we just go all the way for that person even though some people say we shouldn't because of love?

That means we CAN love unconditionally. I believe that when Jesus died on the cross for us, he gave us that gift. The ability to love unconditionally.

I remember asking a loved one before why she does all these things for me and she said, "Because my happiness comes from seeing you smile, hearing you laugh, and feeling your happiness." The feeling I got from hearing that is how good it is to be on the receiving end of unconditional love. A love that only the child in us can give.

Let's all dig through the mess inside and find that child in us, with His help.