God Reveals Himself to Those Who Love Him

We can’t love someone we don’t know. That’s somewhat obvious and often taken for granted. But it’s also impossible to know someone we don’t love. And that part of life is often overlooked.

For example, I know things about my niece. I know she lives on Long Island, is a freshman in college, and has an inordinate number of sneakers and hoodies. There are a great number of other things I know about her, and yes I love her. But to know my niece - not simply to know about her, but to know her - would require that she reveal herself to me. And she will only reveal herself to me if I love her.

We’re likely the same way. Many people know things about us, but only to those who love us do we reveal the depth of who we are. The depth of who we are - the truth of our hearts - is a secret we choose either to reveal or to conceal. But nevertheless our hearts remain hidden unless we choose to disclose ourselves to others.

It is the same with God. Since He is a personal God, He reveals Himself only to those who love Him. Many people know about Jesus, but only those who love Him truly come to know Him. “No one knows the Father,” Jesus said, “except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him.”

We should define the word “love” at this point - that almost meaningless word used for ice cream and family and God. In this case here, I mean allowing the person simply to be themselves, without imposing a pre-conceived judgment or agenda.

This is how Our Lady loved God and came to know His heart. She loved Him with a virginal love, that is, a love with no pre-conceived notions or agendas, saying, “You can be for me whoever you are in truth.” Even now, she loves Him so perfectly that He reveals Himself to her so totally.

Incidentally, when I look back at that year after college, when I was called to the priesthood, I see it had a lot to do with Our Lady. She was teaching me how to love Him - how to say to God, “You can be for me Whoever You are in truth” - and He began revealing Himself to me more and more.

Maybe - and still only maybe - if I love my niece in this way she will open her heart to me and let me know her. She may still choose only to let me know about her - it remains her decision whether to allow me to know her or not - but if I love her, she just may reveal herself to me.

I’ve been thinking of this constantly since the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday, because he didn’t just know about God; he knew God. At the end of his life, after writing a tremendous amount about God, Our Lord appeared to him saying, “You have written well of me. What would you have as a reward?” Thomas replied, “Nothing other than you, Lord,” and never wrote again.

“I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value,” the Saint said after the encounter. The only thing greater than knowing a lot about God is knowing God. But God reveals Himself only to those who love Him.

We see it in the Scriptures. Jesus revealed Himself only to His disciples after being raised from the dead, only to those who loved Him. Even during His public ministry, He remained unknown to those who did not love Him. The Scribes and Pharisees, for example, knew only about Him.

So it is with our family and friends. While we can begin to love someone by learning about them, we only come to know them deeply if they reveal themselves to us. They may decide still not to allow themselves to be known, but at least we’ll have a reasonable hope. +