General Audience
1. The apostle Paul, in the Letter to the Romans, restates with wonder an oracle from the book of Isaiah (cf. 65:1), in which God comes to say through the mouth of the prophet: “I was found by them that sought me not; I appeared openly to them that asked not after me” (Romans 10:20). Now then, after contemplating in the preceding catecheses the glory of the Trinity in the cosmos and in history, we now wish to undertake an interior journey along the mysterious paths by which God comes out to meet man, in order to make him a sharer in his life and his glory. God, in fact, loves the creature fashioned in his image and, like the attentive shepherd of the parable (cf. Luke 15:4-7), never tires of seeking it, even when it shows itself indifferent to or wearied by the divine light, like the sheep that has strayed from the flock and been lost in wild places full of dangers.
God takes the first step
2. Pursued by God, man already perceives his presence, is already irradiated by the light that stands behind him, at his back, and is already summoned by that voice which calls him from afar. In this way he himself begins to seek the God who seeks him: the one sought sets out in search; the one loved begins to love. Today we begin to sketch this evocative intersection between God’s initiative and man’s response, discovering it as a fundamental component of religious experience. In reality, the echo of this experience is felt also in some voices far removed from Christianity, a sign of the desire of all humanity to know God and to be the object of his benevolence. Even an enemy of the biblical people of Israel, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who in the year 587–586 B.C. destroyed the holy city, Jerusalem, addressed the divinity with these words: “Without you, Lord, what would become of this king whom you love and whom you have called by his name? How could he be good in your sight? You guide his name, you lead him along the straight path! (…) By your grace, Lord, of which you make all abundantly partakers, grant that your exalted majesty may be merciful, and grant that the fear of your divinity may dwell in my heart. Give me what is good for you, for you have fashioned my life” (cf. G. Pettinato, “Babilonia”, Milan 1994, p. 182).
3. Our Muslim brothers likewise bear witness to a similar faith, frequently repeating, throughout their daily existence, the invocation with which the book of the Qur’an opens and which celebrates precisely the path along which God, “Lord of all creation, the Compassionate, the Merciful”, guides those on whom he pours out his grace.
The great biblical tradition leads the faithful to turn frequently to God in order to obtain from him the light and the strength needed to do good. Thus the psalmist prays in Psalm 119: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it in reward. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me along the path of your commandments, for in it is my delight. (…) Turn away my eyes from beholding vanities; by your word give me life” (verses 33–35, 37).
4. In universal religious experience, and especially in that handed down by the Bible, we find, therefore, the awareness of the primacy of God, who sets out in search of man to lead him to the horizon of his light and his mystery. At the beginning stands the Word that breaks the silence of nothingness, the “good will” of God (Luke 2:14) that never abandons the creature to its fate.
Man takes the second step
Certainly this absolute beginning does not cancel the need for human action, does not eliminate the commitment of a response on man’s part, who is called to let himself be reached by God and to open to him the door of his life; indeed, he also has the possibility of closing himself off to these invitations. In this sense, the words that the Book of Revelation places on the lips of Christ are truly wonderful: “Behold, I stand at the gate and knock; if any man hear my voice and open to me the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). If Christ did not set out along the paths of the world, we would remain solitary within our small horizon. That is why it is necessary to open the door to him, so that he may sit at our table, in communion of life and of love.
5. The itinerary of the encounter between God and man will unfold under the aegis of love. On the one hand, the Trinitarian divine love goes before us, enfolds us, and constantly opens for us the road that leads to the Father’s house. There the Father awaits us to give us his embrace, as in the Gospel parable of the “prodigal son”, or better, of the “merciful Father” (cf. Luke 15:11–32). On the other hand, we are asked for fraternal love as a response to the love of God: “Beloved —John exhorts us in his first letter—, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (…) God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:11,16). From the embrace between divine love and human love there blossom salvation, life, and eternal joy.
Author: H.H. John Paul II
Source: Zenit.org / 5 July 2000
