The folly of God's love.

Pope Benedict's Lenten message yesterday was beautiful; "Christ on the cross shows God's desire to be loved by humanity"

God's love for us is so profound that the extent to which He goes to demonstrate it is "Eros gone mad".

"Eros is indeed that force that does not allow the lover to remain in himself but moves him to become one with the beloved. Is there more 'mad eros' than that which led the Son of God to make himself one with us even to the point of suffering as his own the consequences of our offenses?"

"It is in the mystery of the cross that the overwhelming power of the heavenly Father's mercy is revealed in all of its fullness," the papal message reads. "In order to win back the love of his creature, he accepted to pay a very high price: the blood of his only begotten Son." "On the cross, God's eros for us is made manifest,"

This Lent, "let us look at Christ pierced on the cross!" the Holy Father exclaims. "On the cross, it is God himself who begs the love of his creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us."

"In all truth, only the love that unites the free gift of oneself with the impassioned desire for reciprocity instills a joy, which eases the heaviest of burdens."

"The response the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome his love and allow ourselves to be drawn to him."

"Accepting his love, however, is not enough," Benedict XVI continues. "We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others. Christ 'draws me to himself' in order to unite himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with his own love."

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I just think that is so beautiful!

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