Unconditional Love

Unconditional acceptance of God’s love.

When I was the assistant the Priest in a large city centre church a tramp started coming into the church and sitting in the bishop’s chair. The congregation were appalled at this and were highly critical at the priest and myself because we did not take strong action against him and ban him from the church. The congregation claimed that the tramp smelt and soiled the chair. The priest asked me just before the Sunday Mass, what we should do about this, as many of the congregation were beginning to lose their patience. Having thought about this, I said to the priest who was going to preach the sermon, to ask a simple question of the congregation before he started. This he did. The question was what would Jesus Christ have done if a tramp had sat in his seat? There was a total silence in the church. The answer to the question was obvious. This is my house. Let him stay there. Would have been the reply. (Unconditional love)

Unconditional acceptance and forgiveness.

When I was the Principal of a secure unit we received a young girl of eleven year’s old, who had murdered a baby and was guilty of many act’s of cruelty against animals. e.g. decapitating them. When the girl was admitted to the unit, it was a notorious case. The majority of staff refused to become her key worker or found themselves unable to be non judgemental in their approach to her. I therefore took on the role of key worker myself. I worked on the principal that she had never had any appropriate love or care during her early childhood. She was consumed with anger against all those in authority and she was extremely jealous of the baby who was well loved when she took the child’s life. I also operated on the principal of unconditional love and forgiveness. I persevered with this approach and slowly but surely she became less angry and probably for the first time in her life she began to trust other’s. After many year’s upon her release from custody she married and had children of her own.