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About the Author

Brian Ricca is a 1996 graduate of Holy Cross. Upon graduating, he joined the Inner-City Teaching Corps and was a teacher and an administrator at St. Malachy School on the Near Westside of Chicago. He spent a year teaching first grade at the Boston Renaissance Charter School in Boston, MA before returning to Chicago. He is now the Director of Community Service at Saint Ignatius College Prep. He lives in Chicago with his wife Michal and their seven month old son Patrick.

Thinking Out Loud

"Woman where are they, has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you."~John 8:11

How simple and amazing at the same time. What a gift to receive forgiveness from Jesus, after being caught in the very act of a sin. How powerful for Jesus to demonstrate in word and in action what it means to love another unconditionally. And how difficult for us as humans to not only comprehend and do to others, but also to embrace the moments when God unconditionally loves us.

What I struggle most with is the reality that God loves me during the moments when I am being less than my best self. The moment that I make a poor choice, God loves me in that very moment. That is unconditional love - something that is so difficult for me to wrap my mind around. As unbelievable as this is, that is the reality of God's love for us. What a gift.

I have spent my professional life in education, in and around children. What I have found is that children are able to love unconditionally and forgive easier than adults. I think it has to do with simplicity. For children, life is simpler and there is a wisdom that we as adults can gain from them. Like Jesus in John's gospel this week, for children forgiveness is a simple act.

I have found that adults who truly understand children are able to embrace this reality. Jonathan Kozol writes about children in such a way that allows the reader to be in awe of the children that he spends his time with. He bears witness to the lives of children who are forgotten and marginalized with such grace and humility. Kozol is able to do this because his expectations are simple yet powerful, much like those of the children he writes about.

When someone hurts me, I know that I do not love them in the moment they are hurting me. Through forgiveness, I grow to love that person again. That is a part of my human frailty. That human frailty is what makes it difficult for me to understand God's unconditional love. There is no human context for me to frame it in. Yet, it is my faith that challenges me to aspire to that love, the love that God has for me, someone created in God's own image and likeness.

In turn, as a proud dad of a seven month old baby boy, I have experienced what it is like to feel the love for a child. In creating this little boy, my wife Michal and I are learning and growing with Patrick every day. The love I have for him is an amazing feeling; more powerful than I ever could have imagined. It is something that I cannot fully explain and something I have found only my friends with children can understand.

I know that at some points in our life together, Patrick, Michal and I will have to forgive each other for the hurts we cause. What I am confident in knowing is that in the moments that I struggle to love, God is there loving our family as only our God can. What a gift unconditional love is, something given to us just because of who we are. How simple and yet, how amazing.