God So Loved

(Creation 9 by Daniel Heller - found here)

“O man, says the Lord, behold I was the first to love you. You were not yet in the world, even the world itself was not, and I already loved you. As long as I am God, I loved you; as long as I have loved myself, I have also loved you. . . .

As Almighty God knew that man is won by kindness, he determined to lavish his gifts upon him, and so take captive the affections of his heart. For this reason he said, I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. I will catch men by those very snares by which they are naturally caught, that is, by the snares of love. And such exactly are all the favors of God to man. After having given him a soul created in his own image, with memory, understanding, and will, and a body with its senses, he created heaven and earth for him, yes, all that exists, all for the love of man: the firmament, the stars, the planets, the seas, the rivers, the fountains, the hills, the plains, metals, fruits, and a countless variety of animals: and all these creatures that they might minister to the uses of man, and that man might love Him in gratitude for so many admirable gifts.

‘Heaven and earth, and all things, tell me to love You,’ says St. Augustine. ‘My Lord,’ he said, ‘whatever I behold on the earth, or above the earth, all speak to me, and exhort me to love You; because all assure me that You have made them for the love of me.’

. . . But God was not satisfied with giving us so many beautiful creatures. He has gone to such lengths to gain our love, as to give himself to us. The Eternal Father did not hesitate to give us even his only-begotten Son: For God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son.”

~St. Alphonsus Liguori