A book destined to shake up everyday spirituality proposes to recover a truth as elementary as it is forgotten: the driving force of existence is not obligation, but the certainty of knowing ourselves embraced by a God with the heart of a father and mother.

There is a dangerous tendency to experience religion and one’s own life from the foundation of cold, demanding rules. We walk through the world with the vague feeling that a stern judge dwells above, an implacable watchman waiting for any misstep to point out our mistakes. From this mental vantage point, moral life is reduced to a perpetual “I must,” and rules or commandments are perceived as heavy divine coercion. However, in the face of this barren vision that turns daily life into an uphill struggle for survival, a thesis as simple as it is revolutionary emerges with the force of an earthquake: humankind is loved by God .

This is the central premise that underpins the work * God Is Love and He Loves You Madly* (Ediciones Palabra) , written by the priest and professor of Moral Theology, Tomás Trigo. Inspired by the premise put forth by Saint John Paul II in the encyclical * Redemptor Hominis* —which emphasizes the radical dignity of the human person—the book offers an urgent reflection on the contemporary spiritual anguish. The fundamental thesis is clear and direct: if God did not love us, we simply would not exist. We are in the world because one day we were conceived, desired, and loved in a personal and unique way.

Beyond abstraction: a love with a proper name

The text’s great analytical achievement lies in dispelling the notion of a diffuse, ethereal, or purely theoretical divine love. The volume traces the history of salvation to demonstrate that God’s tenderness unfolds in three great and concrete moments: He creates us out of love, He redeems us on the cross, and He sends us the Holy Spirit to dwell in the depths of our hearts. God does not love humanity en masse; He loves each person with absolute predilection, as if they were the only creature on earth .

This perspective completely transforms the workings of Christian life. The relationship with the sacred ceases to be built from the bottom up—attempting to win affection through merit—and begins from the top down: recognizing that God loves us first and responding to that affection with the freedom of children. This is the secret that explains why great conversions are born not from doctrinal arguments or fear of punishment, but from the luminous revelation of being deeply loved.

The ultimate test: facing suffering head-on

No reflection on divine affection can escape the most agonizing enigma of human experience: pain. How can one reconcile the harshness of suffering if one believes in a God who loves passionately? This book tackles this thorny issue, avoiding easy clichés and proposing a radically different way of interpreting it.

When faith falters in the face of adversity and we tend to see God as the cause or accomplice of evil, our vision becomes clouded. Conversely, when we accept that the divine essence is unconditional love, suffering is put into perspective. It is not seen as an act of hostility, but as a trial permitted by a Father who seeks the ultimate good of his children, making the heavy burden of the world, as the Gospel promised, lighter.

An invitation to pause

Far from being a quick read to be devoured in one sitting, these pages are presented as a logbook for quiet reflection and intimate dialogue. Reading them offers the perfect antidote to loneliness, misunderstanding, and the weight of a routine that, without the warmth of knowing oneself to be surrounded by boundless affection, often becomes harsh and dreary.

Discovering that God loves us madly is not just a theological dogma; it is the keystone that restores peace to the soul and encourages us to rediscover the joy of living.