"What Are We That You Have Loved Us So Well?"

This past Sunday, we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, the recognition of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our Saviour.

This was the last Sunday for my choir to solely play Christmas-themed songs. While I look forward to getting back to our regular repertoire, I will miss playing these  joyous, upbeat songs. I find Christmas hymns in general to be very inspiring, and on Sunday, the song that spoke to me most was our Offertory hymn, "Emmanuel". It is a wonderful song with great lyrics, yet it is also noteworthy for its change in tempo and metre. The verses are in a slow-paced 3/4 time, whereas the choruses change to an upbeat, quicker, 4/4 time. This change from doleful music to rejoicing music symbolizes the emergence of light and life that Jesus's birth brought to our world.

Here are a few excerpts from anyone who is unfamiliar with this song.

Baby born in a stall
Long ago now, and hard to recall
Cold wind, darkness and sin
Your welcoming from us all

Lord, lead us to know
You lay like a beggar, so humble, so low
No place for your head
And straw for a bed
The glory of God to show

Emmanuel, Emmanuel
What are we that You have loved us so well?
A song on high, a Saviour's nigh
Angel hosts rejoice Thy glory to tell

The overarching theme that resonates with me here is that of humility.

First, Jesus's humble beginnings are highlighted. He was born in a stable, amid animals, dirt, and straw, rather than in some extravagant location befitting a king. It was nighttime and weather was unpleasant, and sin was abounding in the world. For the glorious Son of the all-knowing, all-powerful God to be born in a setting like this is very significant. What a remarkable image and example of humility for us!

Further, the call to be humble is especially exemplified in the line "What are we that You have loved us so well?"

That is, this song recognizes the immensity of God's love for us, despite the fact that we may not always be or feel worthy of it. That is, God's love is not necessarily a right; we cannot necessarily say that we deserve God's love. Rather, it is a beautiful gift.

In what ways has God shown His love for us? They really are countless. He has given each of us life, for starters! He has provided us with a planet on which to live, with the beauty of nature all around us. He has given us many special people, such as family, friends, spouses, and so on, who enrich our lives in so many ways. God has also blessed us all with a unique set of gifts and talents, with which we can in turn strive to enrich the lives of those around us. Most importantly, He gave us the gift of His Son. He sent us Jesus as the most wonderful example of how we should live our lives, and then He made the ultimate sacrifice by enduring the painful crucifixion and death of Jesus in order to bring about salvation for our widespread sins. The enormity of this gift is hard to even fully comprehend! 

God's love for us is immense, and it is also unconditional. Regardless of what we do wrong (and let's face it, being human, we make mistakes all the time), He is always waiting with open arms to take us back, willing to grant us forgiveness when we truly and sincerely ask for it. He is always there to help us get back on the path to salvation.

How marvelous and wondrous indeed is God's love for us! It is a precious, priceless gift that we must never take for granted. Let us instead strive to revel in that love and reflect that love back to God. How can we do that?

Think of people that you love very much. How do we show it? For one, we spend time with them. We can certainly do this with God; we are called to be in His presence at least every Sunday at Mass! There is also the wonderful option of being in God's holy presence during Adoration of the Blessed Eucharist. My church, Corpus Christi, has this on Mondays during the day. I have been to Adoration a couple times and it is a lovely, uplifting experience. Perhaps your church or another one near you has regular Adoration. Why not try something new (if you haven't already gone) and look into it?

Another way we show love for others, especially those who are not nearby, is communicating with them via phone, email, social networking, and the like. Similarly, we can always communicate with God, at any time of day, through prayer. In prayer, we can share so many things with God - our joys, our thanks, our worries, our fears. God is always there to listen.

Further, we can show love by embracing and embodying Jesus's loving example in our own lives, and reflecting God's love to others. One way to show love and respect for our parents is to behave in a way that is in line with the values they lovingly taught to us, and the same is true for God. As we work to live in a Christlike way, we live out our loving with relationship with God beautifully. Although it is impossible to show love for others in such an enormous and complete way as God has shown for us, we are called to emulate it as best we can. Let us never take God's love for granted, but instead, make the most of it as we work to be "Christ for one another".

May God bless you, today and always!

Love, Karen