Do you love like a pagan?

Good morning Caveman,

Imagine you were a caveman who lived his entire life inside a cave.

One day, you finally decide to step outside and observe the world.

Very quickly, you realize that in nature there are powers.

Some powers are stronger than others.

Like the LION.

Yes Frank, it eats all the other animals, and none are above it.

Ouch. yeah. Don't get near a lion.

Anyways, Frank learns that the lion gets hungry. And when it does, it wants to eat him.

So, he learns to fear it.

To avoid becoming the lion’s next meal, Frank brings it food. A rabbit today, another tomorrow. Feeding the creature becomes a ritual offering. A sacrifice.

Frank hopes that by giving something valuable, this greater power will spare him.

In consequence, he has developed a relationship with the Lion. But it is a relationship of fear from being eaten.

This way of thinking shaped much of the ancient world. Pagan people offered sacrifices to their gods to appease their anger.

Many pagans worshipped the Sun, seeing it as above even the lion.

They burnt animal offerings so that the ashes would rise to the Sun’s mouth. If the Sun was fed, perhaps it would have mercy and would grant them crops.

And when the pagans ran out of animals to sacrifice, or when they thought the gods were angry (such as during dry season and famine), they sacrificed something infinitely more valuable:

their. own. children.

That fear didn’t disappear when Christianity began. And many Christians still have this view of God.

They think God is this angry higher power looking to find a mistake to burn them alive in Hell.

This thinking affects your relationship with Him, and how you pray.

But the God of Israel revealed something completely different.

When God called Abraham, He began to teach humanity that He is not like the pagan gods: He does not need us, nor does he benefit from our gifts.

In fact, when Abraham was about to offer his son (Genesis 22), God stopped him and provided a lamb instead.

For the first time in human history, the higher power said: stop. I don’t want your son. Here is mine.

Ouf.

And wait. The first error we make is thinking God needs us to feed Him (as I just mentioned).

But there’s another side to the same coin, another error, which is an inversion of the first:

NO FRANK.

IT’S THE OPPOSITE.

Love gives itself!

Love pours itself out, as a gift!

It doesn’t consume the other.

You see, both Frank and the pagans think that love is something we take.

Two sides of the same error: the pagan sun asking to be fed, and Frank eating his date.

But the Christian God said that true love is neither of these.

To prove it, He comes to you.

…

Frank just got a kiss… from God?

yes.

You have a wrong image of God, and that image is the same error as lust.

You see, God loves you. So when you go to Mass, you do not go to feed God.

You go to feed yourself.

He comes down, makes Himself a sacrifice, and offers Himself to feed you.

Frank, you cannot “eat” your girlfriend. But you can literally eat God. This should tell you that the desires you have in your heart cannot be fulfilled by lusting after your girlfriend and “eating her” in your thoughts, words, and actions. Your desires were meant to point you to Him (what your soul is made for). Because only He can fulfill you.

Open wide your mouth.

Baa,

Stay Holy 🐑

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P.P.S. read also What are the 4 loves? 💕

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