“If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul.” Love is who we are. It is what we are all about. Love is the cause of our being, the reason for our existence. It is why will live and breathe. Love is who God is and who we are. Our Heavenly Father created us out of love and for no other reason. He did not need us and he still does not need us. But he loves us so much that he does not want to live without us. We do not add anything to God. He is perfect and the source of perfection. We do not complete God in any way. Rather, it is he who completes and perfects us in every way. So literally, we were created out of love, we were created for love, we were created to love. Say that out loud so you can here your own voice say, “I was created out of love, I was created for love, I was created to love.” That is who we are – love. If you were able to take a human person and break us down to get to the core of our being to see the very essence of who we are, you will find an ocean of God’s love imprinted in our heart and soul so deep, it can not be penetrated, it is unfathomable. You will find God’s love burning so brightly inside of you, so intense, it is unquenchable. It could never be extinguished. The love of God has been poured into our hearts so profoundly that, we simply cannot wrap our minds around it. Words could never truly describe it. It must be experienced, shared, given, received. It is this profound reality and intimate love that created and saved us and now calls, invites, and commands us to love with all our heart, with all our being, with all our strength, and with all our mind the very essence and source of love, God. And then, in that love, to love one another perfectly and completely as we have been loved. We must be reminded that we cannot give what we don’t have; we can’t share what we haven’t received; we can’t be what we haven’t become. So come to the table of God’s profound love, the greatest expression of God’s love poured out for you and allow the love of God to heal, purify, refresh, strengthen and renew you in love you were created to be. Fr. Ivan