Dear Fellow Alumni,
It is such a joy to know that you and I are rooted and grounded in God’s love, just as Paul had written more than 2000 years ago:?
“That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)
As I reread this Scripture. I was reminded of an ancient hymn, parts of which can be traced back almost a thousand years, to a Jewish hymn in Aramaic by Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai, who lived in Germany.
“The Love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell,
It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave his Son to win;
His erring child he reconciled and pardoned from his sin.”
“O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
The saints and angels’ song.”
“Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made,
Were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill, and ev’ry man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole tho’ stretched from sky to sky.” (Frederick M Lehman, 1868-1953).
We can never fully grasp God’s love for us. It is both unsearcheble and? immeasurable! It is both powerful and terrifying! It reforms us and transforms us. It embraces us and chastises us. It sustains us and renews us.?
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons [and daughters] of God.” (1 John 3:1).
I am eternally grateful to my Father-God for his immeasurable and unspeakable love for me. I am thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ for rooting and grounding me in his love. I am comforted by the Holy Spirit who not only indwells me but also empowers me to do all that he calls me to do.?
As we enter the last quarter of 2025, may each of us echo the words of St Paul:?
“In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present not things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39).
May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us all, now and forever.
Amen
Sincerely,