The Love That Never Tires
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord appeared to him from afar: I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my fidelity to you.
Grace Prayed For
The grace to rest deeply in God’s everlasting love and unfailing fidelity, trusting that His pursuit of me never wavers, and to carry this same persistent, initiating love to those who feel far from Him.
Reflection
There is a love that never grows weary. A love that doesn’t fluctuate with your performance or fade when you disappoint. A love that was there before you took your first breath and will remain long after your last. This is the everlasting love of God—and it is the very heartbeat of everything we’re being called to as missionary disciples.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
Everlasting. Not temporary. Not conditional. Not dependent on whether you showed up to Mass last Sunday or whether you’ve been faithful in prayer this week. God’s love for you stretches backward into eternity past and forward into eternity future. Before you were conceived, He loved you. Before you knew His name, He loved you. Before you ever thought about evangelizing anyone, He loved you.
This matters profoundly as we transition from a maintenance mindset to a missionary one. In a maintenance parish, we can slip into thinking that our relationship with God is transactional—I do these things, and God approves of me. I fail at these things, and God is disappointed. But mission cannot flow from transaction. Mission flows from relationship. And relationship is built on the foundation of God’s unwavering fidelity.
“Therefore, I have continued my fidelity to you.”
Notice the word “therefore.” God’s fidelity to you is the direct result of His everlasting love. He doesn’t give up on you. He doesn’t withdraw when you stumble. He doesn’t put you on probation when you fail to live up to your baptismal calling. Instead, He continues—persistently, faithfully, relentlessly—to pursue you, to draw you, to invite you back into His embrace.
This is crucial for us to understand because many of us carry a deep-seated fear that we’re too inconsistent, too broken, too lukewarm to be used by God for His mission. We look at our track record—the prayers we’ve skipped, the opportunities to witness we’ve missed, the times we’ve chosen comfort over courage—and we think, “How could God possibly use me?”
But God’s fidelity isn’t based on your faithfulness. His continued pursuit of you isn’t dependent on your consistency. He loves you with an everlasting love, and therefore—precisely because of that love—He continues to be faithful to you even when you are not faithful to Him.
“The Lord appeared to him from afar.”
When we feel distant from God, we often assume it’s because He has moved away. But this passage reveals the beautiful truth: God is the one who initiates the encounter. Even when we feel far off, He appears. Even when we’ve wandered, He comes looking. Even when we’ve grown cold, He draws near with warmth.
This is the love we’re called to share with others. Not a love that says, “Get your life together first, then come to Jesus.” Not a love that demands perfection before offering acceptance. But a love that pursues, that initiates, that never tires of drawing people back.
As you step into your baptismal mission to evangelize, you don’t go in your own strength or with your own love. You go carrying the everlasting love you’ve received—a love so vast, so faithful, so inexhaustible that it will overflow naturally to everyone you encounter. The person at work who seems far from God? He appears to them. The family member who has drifted from faith? His fidelity continues. The stranger you meet who has never known Jesus? God has loved them with an everlasting love too, and perhaps you are the one through whom that love will be revealed.
You cannot manufacture this kind of love. You can only receive it, rest in it, and let it pour through you. Today, let God’s everlasting love and unfailing fidelity be the ground beneath your feet. From that solid place, you can step forward in mission, knowing that the same God who has never given up on you will never give up on those He sends you to love.
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post