“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” ( Luke 1:46)
I think it is probably true to say that we don’t spend enough time meditating on who God is, even though meditating on God’s attributes has a special capacity to fill our hearts with love for God. I’m in the process of reading Saint Aloysius Gonzaga’s biography by Father Meschler, and the author states on page 150, concerning the saint’s prayer life, that Aloysius “often seemed to be rapt into another world, especially when meditating on the infinite attributes of God….” There is so much to be learned from the saints.
Lately, I’ve been meditating on two of God’s attributes, to wit: that God is UNCREATED and INFINITE.
God’s “unimaginable glory” is such that He has always existed and never has not been. He is uncreated because His very essence is to exist. In John’s Gospel, Jesus testified that “before Abraham was, I am” (8:56). Our beautiful God’s life is eternal, limitless and self-sufficient. There is simply nothing to compare to the greatness of God’s unbeginning, never-ending Blessed life. When we meditate on this wonderful mystery it fills our hearts with awe.
God’s life is also INFINITE. As large and big and majestic as you can imagine God to be, He is still infinitely larger, bigger and more majestic than that. The immensity of His Infinite existence is simply inexplicable. It blows our minds to try and comprehend just how infinite God’s life is: but whatever your answer may be, His infinite existence is infinitely greater than what you are able to imagine (these human images fall hopelessly short of the spiritual reality). God’s infinity is simply breathtaking. He is boundless beyond anything we can comprehend. He transcends space and time.The “infinite sea” of His being cannot be measured or quantified.
OK. Stop for a moment. Take a breath. Take note: the Uncreated, Infinite God created you. And He loves you! – so much so that He entered into human history to save us from ourselves by suffering a cruel and brutal death, and even now, out of love, abases Himself to be our very eternal life-giving food under the appearance of bread and wine. What kind of God is this?
My heart is beating faster! I was created by this God. I am loved by this God! And this God can only love with the immensity of His Infinite love. Who has words to describe the immensity of God’s love? To contemplate God’s love fills our hearts with a holy awe and an ardent desire forms deep within our souls to seek after Him with greater intensity and with a more fervent love.
Oh wonderful, glorious God! Thou art truly amazing; and thou art my God and Father.
Tom Mulcahy
Inspiration: I am completely indebted in this note to the style and content of Father F.W. Faber’s great book, The Creator and the Creature, and I have carved this short note out of his many reflections therein on the attributes of God (see especially the chapter, “Why God Wishes Us to Love Him”).
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