Do You Love Me?

By: Ivonne J. Hernandez

The other day I asked my son,

“Do you know how much I love you?”

He answered the same way he always does, “A lot,” he said.

This time though, wanting a little more, I asked, “How do you know?”

His answer was simple, perplexing, and profound…. “You breathe.”
He said this without pausing, without thinking about it; it was just a matter of fact.
​
Puzzled, I said, “I breathe? “… “Yes, mom,” he said, “you just ARE.”

“…and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)
​

What a profound truth. We are made by love, for love… Love is who we are.

We long to be seen, known, and accepted. To love is to encounter, to experience, to receive the other. This is why rejection is such a painful experience… We are meant to be received, but sin makes us ashamed. It makes us hide. But when we hide the parts we believe are unacceptable and unlovable, we make it impossible for others to receive who we truly are.

​Where do we find a remedy for this illness? We find it in the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. Deep within the heart of the one WHO IS, we find the truth of who we ARE.  

“…and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)

Truth tells us we are known…

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
​

Truth tells us we are loved…

“God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
​

We must hide there, rest there, wait there… until we experience love. 

“I sinned, seriously; I have a huge debt with divine justice; I’m afraid of his anger, of hell … Where can I hide? Under the mantle of divine mercy: Jesus extends it over me; in the heart of Jesus, that is open towards me.” – St. Peter Julian Eymard
​

And then, once we open our hearts and receive His love, we let it overflow. 

“Brothers and sisters:
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)
​

Then, as we encounter others and receive them, they will experience God’s love through us. 

“In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).

In Him… Just breathe… Receive. 
​

Ivonne J. Hernandez

Ivonne is a Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament, President of Elisheba House, and author of The Rosary: Eucharistic Meditations. She lives in Trinity, Florida, with her husband, Rick, and their children.