Of Course He Loves You!

By Rebecca D., Alumnae

“Te quiero mucho!“, Paty said. I had just met this sweet girl of 8 years old and she already told me she loved me. I accepted her hug graciously but I was shocked to say the least. Her tender affection seemed to have stirred something deep within my heart, and the questions I carried with me to El Salvador rang in my ears. How do I know God loves me? How can I accept His love if I don’t feel it?

Earlier that week, I had walked with the volunteers down a sandy hill until we reached a part of the neighbourhood called The Independence. We saundered from house to house asking parents whether their children would like to come out and play with us. Slowly, we gathered around 15 children and set up some games beneath the shade of an abandoned warehouse.

“Look at what I drew!” Sandy exclaimed. Her big brown eyes looked up at me eagerly as she proudly presented to me her drawing. “I made it for you.“

“I bet you can’t catch me!” Henry said as he tagged me. “Look at how fast I can run. Nobody can catch me!“

“Look at us! Look at us in the tree!” Henry and Natalia had decided to climb one the trees that made up the landscape.

Look at us! I noted that the children I played with just wanted to be seen and desperately wanted their love and affection to be affirmed. My mind wandered back to that Sunday’s homily. The priest earnestly shook the processional cross next to the ambo and said, “Of course God loves you! Look at what he did for you. All you have to do is look at the cross. Look at Jesus hanging from the cross. The evidence is there!“

Similar to how the children I met in El Salvador showed me love and sought my love with every drawing, game of tag and outburst for attention, Jesus’ passion and death beckons me to recognize his love for me in every wound left by the crown of thorns, every tare made by the wip, and every stab of the spear on his Sacred Body. Of course Jesus loves us!