Contributed By: Deacon Mike Vander Bloomen
Several years ago I gave a homily where I used the lyrics from a country song by Jimmy Wayne, and I thought I would use them again today. The name of the song is “I love you this much."
The story line of the song begins with a little boy, whose parents are not together
and rarely does he see his dad. They go like this:
He can’t remember the times that he thought, does my daddy love me? Probably not.
That didn’t stop him from wishing that he did, didn’t keep from wanting, or worshipping him. He guesses he saw him about once a year, he could still feel the way he felt, standing in tears, stretching his arms out, as far as they’d go, whispering, daddy I want you to know.
I love you this much and I’m waiting on you, to make up your mind, do you love me too?
However long it takes, I’m never giving up, no matter what, I love you this much.
All of us, like this little boy, has struggles that we deal with on a daily basis, all of us have hardships of some sort. These struggles and hardships take many forms. Like the little boy in the song some of us deal with relationship issues. That might be with our spouses, children, parents or siblings. It could be with in-laws, friends, co-workers a boyfriend or girlfriend. Some of the hardships could be financial, barely making ends meet, possibly the loss of a job has affected your life.
Some of our struggles can be in form of addictions--to alcohol or drugs, gambling, pornography or sex. Perhaps we struggle with an eating disorder, or we have psychological issues, anxiety or depression. It can be our physical health that we are struggling with, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, chronic arthritis, a stroke, whatever that might be. And if it’s not you dealing with any of these things, perhaps you are the care giver for a loved one who is. You take on not only your own burdens but those of the person you are caring for.
Those of us who are parents never stop worrying about our children, when they are young, away at school or the military, out on their own, married with children, and then we worry about the grandkids. Maybe recently or not so recently, someone you loved passed away and you are dealing with the grief that comes with losing someone and the pain of missing them every day.
The issues that we deal with on a daily basis are too numerous to mention but we all have them, and we all know what affects us as individuals and all of us like the little boy hurt.
The song continues:
He grew to hate him for what he had done, cause what kind of father could do that to his son? He said, damn you daddy, the day that he died. The man didn’t blink, but the little boy cried.
I love you this much and I’m waiting on you, to make up your mind, do you love me too?
However long it takes, I’m never giving up, no matter what, I love you this much.
These struggles that we have, if we let them, can consume us. They are all we think about. We let them fester and for most of us we keep them inside. And when we keep them inside it can tend to affect us in other ways, our relationship with someone else. This other person might offer to help in anyway they can, and because of our stubbornness or just the state we are in we might say, "KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF MY BUSINESS, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU," or when someone might say to you, “I know what you are going through, I can feel your pain,” you might say, "YOU ARE NOT THE ONE WHO HAS TO DEAL WITH THIS, THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM FEELING."
Other relationships can also be hurt. It can cause us to be anxious, or depression can set in. And when we do confide in someone, we listen to the advise that they give, and they might say, "Talk to this person you are struggling with, or have someone else come in and help with the care." And as much as we know they are probably right, we resist. We might think that they don’t know what they are talking about, or how can they possibly know what I am going through. It is easy for them to say that, but they aren’t living it.
And we continue:
Half way through the service while the choir sang a hymn, he looked up above the preacher and he sat and stared at him. He said, forgive me Father, when he realized that he hadn’t been unloved or alone all his life. His arms were stretched out, as far as they’d go, nailed to the cross for the whole world to know.
I love you this much and I’m waiting on you, to make up your mind, do you love me too?
However long it takes, I’m never giving up, no matter what, I love you this much.
We need to realize and be reminded of what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross. That cross is present with us all the time. Whatever our struggles are Jesus wants to take the pain we feel and add it to the weight of the cross and take that burden from us. Jesus on the cross is with us each time we think of the person that we are having the relationship problem with. The cross is there each time we feel pain from our physical ailment. He is there on the cross each time we feel despair, each time we break down and cry, each time we throw up our hands and say, “GOD I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO."
He endured that pain, he endured the humiliation, the beating, the crown of thorns, the nails driven in his hands and feet, and through all of that he asked His Father to forgive them.
So after all that, and still offering forgiveness for what you and I have to put on him, he will gladly take it on. Let us take comfort in knowing that Jesus stretched out his arms as far as they’d go, nailed to the cross for the whole world to know.
He loves you this much and He’s waiting on you, to make up your mind, do you love Him too?
However long it takes, He’s never giving up, no matter what, He love’s you this much.
Deacon Mike Vander Bloomen is the Deacon at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in De Pere, WI. He is married to Mary Jo, and is father to David (Wendy), Bryan (MacKenzie), Steven (Kristin), and Kelsey, and is an amazing grandfather to five young grandchildren. The above words were taken from his homily he preached at OLOL on Good Friday 2019.
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