Love precedes our very existence (Bishop Robert Barron)

   If we play the game of loving God in order to get God to love us, then we are lost.  If we think we can earn salvation or we can work our way into God's heart, then we are lost.  Here's a way to think about it: we wouldn't exist were it not for God's love.  God needs nothing; therefore, whatever exists outside of God exists because God desires some good for it.  Love precedes, therefore, our intelligence, our courage, our wills, our designs and purposes, indeed, our very existence.

--Bishop Robert Barron, 

Gospel Reflection, November 7, 2021

Image source 1:  St. John's Bible, Genesis frontispiece, https://dailytheology.org/2015/07/06/merciful-conspiracy/

Image source 2:  William Blake, The Ancient of Days, 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_creation_narrative#/media/File:Europe_a_Prophecy,_copy_D,_object_1_(Bentley_1,_Erdman_i,_Keynes_i)_British_Museum.jpg