Can anything separate us from God's love?

"I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 8:39

Separation is often painful. Each year I have the privilege of teaching the lectionary to candidates for the Maryknoll Lay Mission Association. They are always a diverse group. One year there will be two or three families, the next mostly young people. A third year will have retired couples preparing for mission service in a country far from home. I never fail to enjoy teaching these women and men, but neither do I forget they are preparing to be separated from their families and friends for three years or more. While full of hope and dreams of discovering new ways to proclaim the Gospel, these men and women are also leaving home and its securities, and will have some difficult days adjusting to a new culture and all it entails.

I wonder if Paul felt the separation from his family and friends in Jerusalem when he embarked on his missionary journeys. We know he spoke often and bravely about the challenge God set before him, but I wonder how much of his language is posturing, trying to convince himself that he was not alone.

Nevertheless, the reading from Romans today lifts us up. If we are separated from everyone and everything we know, we are not separated from the love of God in Christ. Cling to this memory, Paul urges us, especially when it seems like everyone and everything around you is collapsing. Surely, it was this memory that kept Paul focused on the power of God’s transforming love.

In second Corinthians Paul admits that he is boasting, but lists all of the trials he has suffered in order to assure those who will follow him that nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Listen.

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

And in all of this Paul insists it was the realization that he was doing God's will that sustained him and reminded him that nothing could separate him from the love of God.

Today, if you are separated from friends and family not just by geography, but by unresolved conflicts and unhealed hurts, pray for the grace to remember that no matter how stressful life might be, you are never far from the God who will not, cannot, stop loving you.