The Father Himself Loves Us

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Some of us secretly imagine God the Father as distant, disappointed, or hard to approach. We think of Jesus as the kind one, the merciful one, almost as if Jesus has to convince the Father not to give up on us. But Jesus completely destroys that image today. He says, “The Father himself loves you.”

And Jesus says this right before His Passion. Right before the Cross. Which means the Cross is not Jesus trying to change the Father’s mind about humanity. The Cross is the Father revealing how far His love is willing to go to bring His children home. That changes prayer too. Jesus says: “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

Notice He does not say, “Beg God until He finally listens.” He speaks about prayer with confidence because prayer is not trying to break through a locked door. In Christ, the door is already open. A lot of us pray like outsiders. We pray with fear. We pray thinking we need perfect words, perfect faith, or a perfect life before God will listen. But Jesus is reminding the disciples, and us, that through Him, we are no longer strangers before God. We are sons and daughters.

And maybe that is the real struggle for many Christians: not whether God exists, but whether we truly believe we are loved by Him personally. Because once you know you are loved by the Father, everything changes. You stop performing. You stop pretending. You stop running. You can finally be honest. Some of us are exhausted because we are trying to earn what God is already offering freely: His heart.

And yes, conversion matters. Holiness matters. Sin is real. But the starting point of Christianity is not fear, it is being loved. Jesus came from the Father into the world, and He returns to the Father not to leave us behind, but to lead us there too. That means your life is not random. Your prayers are not ignored. Your wounds are not unseen.

The Father himself loves you. And maybe the holiest thing we can do today is simply believe Jesus when He says that.

Prayer: Father, so often I approach You with fear, shame, or distance. Teach me to believe the words of Your Son that You truly love me. Help me to pray with trust, to live as Your child, and to stop hiding from the love that has always been searching for me. Bring my heart home to You. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko