True Love
We see the love of Christ opened up for us, in His
Pierced Heart. His heart being pierced for his
Church.
And it is from his Pierced Heart that our
definition of true love must arise. We can
understand that God is love, when we contemplate the
wounded side of Christ, his pierced heart. In this
mystical burst of blood and water, which gushed forth,
we witness the explosion of Christ’s divine love. It
seems as if his heart could no longer embrace the fire
of love within it, that it had to explode.
“Love is not merely an idea but an experience.”[1] We were all
made for this experience. And, all of us yearn and
search for love. This is the number one reason why God
created us, to love. “We, humans cannot live without
love.” Our lives are pointless, if love is not revealed
to us, if we do not find love, if we do not savor love.
We discover that God is rich in mercy, when we
contemplate His love for us on the cross at Calvary.
And, when we see Christ giving himself perfectly to us,
especially in our own misery.
To quote Christopher West, “Christ was not
“murdered”. The nails did not hold him fast to the
cross. He was the all-powerful Son of the Most High God.”
He could have come down from the cross at any moment.
But He chose not to. He could have prevented his
torturers from ever touching him. But He chose to
suffer.It was his decision to stay on the cross.He
chose to die. This is “a blameless
suffering accepted purely out of love for mankind.”[2]
This is the definition of true love.
The World of Today
We live in a world where man has turned his back on God.
This has had horrible consequences for all mankind. Only
by returning to God who is love can humanity learn to
love one another in the right context. Sin has
devitalized our own self-will far more than it has
darkened our intellect. Clearly, love for anything or
anyone, other than God is a problem. And this is the
greatest problem we face in our society today. Man
wanting to become like God.
The world is wounded by sin and it’s consequences,
because evil distorts and deceives. People in the world
are scrambling for power, thinking this will make them
happy. But this could not be further from the truth.
This is a false impression of true happiness.
Furthermore, we live in a world that rejects the values
of the civilization of life, of love and of truth.
It is important for us to understand what the world is
going through, this way we can be more in tune with its
healing process, and what it entails. We must know what
we are up against. It is a fact that the human person is
a limited being, not self-reliant, therefore, putting it
in the most objective way, needs other human beings. The
realization of the limitations and shortcomings of
mankind is the starting point for an understanding of
man’s relationship with God. The truth is Man
needs God, as does every other human person, in
order to be. We need to convey this reality to the
world.
For us, as religious women, we have to feel loved by Him
who is Love, and be in love with our own vocation. This
is the only way, we are going to be able to channel His
love to others. “You did not choose me but I chose you.”[3]
We have not been chosen because of our merits, but
because of God’s Mercy. “I have loved you with an
everlasting love.”[4]
This is our security, the Lord called me before I was
born, while I was still in my mother’s womb he called
me.”[5]
This awareness of having been called and chosen through
love should be engraved in our hearts. This will make
all the difference in the way we manifest this truth to
the world. We have to have this great zeal in our hearts
of making Christ known and loved by everyone. Our
top priority should be to be totally at
the service of the Gospel. Preaching and sharing
the Word of God with all humanity. We are all God’s
children, therefore, we can never turn anyone away. We
must be sharp enough to know how to use God’s weapons,
prayer being number one, then for sure, the devil will
become weak. Let us ask the Lord to give us the strength
and courage to proclaim Him to all people and in all
circumstances.
The times we are living in are unspeakably troublesome
and disturbing. Many people suffer because they are
marginalized, discriminated against, and their human
dignity is not respected.[6]
The Catholic Church's journey has also become extremely
tough and stressful, both for the Faithful and for our
own Shepherds.
We live in a culture which values autonomy and
self-reliance. For the most part, man has grown to be an
independent human being. And this makes it even harder
for him to depend on God alone. No one can tell him what
to do, not even God. We must do some serious
soul-searching and realize that without Jesus we cannot
do anything.
The Heart
“Love is the life of our soul, just as the soul is the
life of our body. The heart is the place of love.”[7]
Love has its foundation in the heart. And, since
the heart is the dominant organ in human beings, it
provides the measure for all things.[8]
In all its actions, our heart tends towards happiness
and searches out for happiness.The heart is life-giving
in relation to the soul.[9]
Our hearts must have eyes with which to gaze upon God.
We should ask the Lord to open the eyes of our hearts in
order to be able to see Him. The heart gives rise to the
spiritual life within the soul. Love is the first
act of our spiritual life.
A heart that has no movement and affection has no love.[10]
It is important for us to see the role of the heart in
connection to the soul and the workings of the heart
within itself. We need to know the movements of our
hearts, because the heart gives rise to our actions. The
kind of actions that we will have will depend on our
will and will be determined by the love that is held in
our hearts.
It is also essential to be aware of the conflicting
movements within our hearts, which are caused by two
loves, our self-love and the Love of God. These two
loves within our soul are in constant opposition with
each other and cause great friction within our heart.
In order to avoid this inner conflict, our self-love
shall always serve the love of God.
Understanding the heart is key. Our heart
experiences either “sweetness” or “bitterness”,
depending on the love contained. We need
to ask ourselves: “Are our hearts receptive to the
divine movement of God’s love in inspiration, are they
docile and ready to surrender to God’s will ?”[11]
As a matter of fact, if our hearts are hard and dry,
they will be incapable of being penetrated by the Lord.
The fortitude and stableness of our hearts will come
from feeling the joy of being in the Lord. And, the
nourishment that we need for our souls will be provided
for by the inward movement of God’s love.
St. Francis de Sales saw fire as a symbol of love,
because fire possesses two qualities – light and heat –
both of which are connected with the operation of the
intellect and the will respectively within the heart.
Truth is the object of the intellect; goodness the
object of the will. He also saw the conception of the
love of God as achieved by the Holy Spirit within the
womb of the heart.[12]
It is amazing and overwhelming for us, to have St.
Francis’ perception on this matter.
It is important to become aware that our human heart
cannot be fulfilled with anything less than “to
love God above all things.” The process which
raises our heart to God’s supernatural life involves the
interaction of God with our own human heart. This
relationship with God needs to exist, in order for the
human heart to be molded into what God wants it to be.
Our
heart is the seat and source of love. Therefore, we should do everything possible to imitate the divine-human
heart of our crucified Lord, and allow Him to bring His
deepest movement of love into our hearts.
Our
hearts have to always be constantly moving nonstop
towards God.
Man’s heart is never so peaceful as when its movements
are left free to accept God’s love. To put it simply,
love is the interior movement, outpouring, and growth of
the heart towards the good.
St. Francis de Sales used to refer to Christ’s own Heart
as the “magnet of souls.”[13]
This is
stunning. We, too, can become other magnets of souls,
but we have to draw God’s heart into our own.
There has to be an exchange of hearts, between ours and
God’s. We have to search for the perfection of our
hearts, and this will only be accomplished through an
intimate relationship with God. We should examine our
hearts daily, and ask ourselves: “How is our
heart?”
We have to guard and protect our hearts from the weapons
and snares of the enemy. Our hearts will be the first
place the enemy will attack, because he knows this is
the place of love, and we must be in complete awareness
of this fact.
We have
to yield to God’s will, because our will is spiritual. Therefore, it’s capacity for expansion depends on
how it surrenders itself to the movements of the Holy
Spirit.[14]
Whatever enters into our minds will be manifested
in the outward movements of our hearts. This is
important to comprehend, and ask: What are we
feeding our minds with?
To love is a choice but it is also a responsibility.
When we choose to love freely, we are only responding to
His love. We write our own history of love.
To be true witnesses of love, we have to follow the
greatest treasure we have, which is Jesus Christ,
Himself. He is our real happiness. True love can only be
found in His Heart.
Nonetheless, there are obstacles to being true witnesses
of love. Let us focus on the following:
Self-love
– We have to destroy our egos. We need to come down from
our own high self-estimation. We must stop flattering
and pampering ourselves, because our self-love is
precisely what separates us from the love of God. One of
our main goals should be to detach ourselves from our
own self-love, so that God’s love can abide in us.
Pride
– If you commit one act of pride, that is pride. If you
commit these acts continually, on every opportunity that
arises, that’s the habit of pride. If you
take pleasure and really enjoy these acts and seek the
opportunities of committing them, that is the
spirit of pride.[15]
Selfishness- Being excessively or exclusively concerned with
ourselves. It is manifested in having self-preference
which leads us to direct our purposes to the advancement
of our own interests, power, and happiness, without
regarding those of others.
Selfishness is ultimately
self-destructive, and it
is at the heart of most problems between people. It is
exhibited in several other ways, for example: in
being lovers of ourselves, in pleasing ourselves, in
seeking out only our own profit. It is
inconsistent with God’s love.
We have
to measure what kind of love is in our hearts. And, this will be manifested in our actions.
Our
thoughts, words, and deeds all come straight from the
heart. Holy love must be the only intention or motive
for which all our actions are performed. This is
purity of intention.[16]
We can only purify our intentions with God’s divine
love. Hearts cannot be seen, only by God.[17]
We have to live according to the Holy Spirit, which
means to think, speak, and act according to the virtues
which dwell in Him, and not according to the senses or
feelings which dwell in our flesh.[18]
God has sown in our hearts seeds of all virtues, but,
unfortunately, the majority of them are hidden by our
own imperfections and weaknesses.[19]
God sees all the realities of our human hearts. We have
to ask the Lord to give us all of his virtues. And, to
uncover those which have been obscured in our own
frailty, so they can flourish. We can only see
Jesus with our heart. Only love purifies us and
gives us the ability to see.
Love seeks understanding. Love is exactly the opposite
of indifference. To have real love for humanity means to
share with them God’s knowledge and truth. Pope John
Paul II’s vision was to exhort all the followers of
Christ to work towards creating a new civilization of
love. And Pope Benedict XVI, his successor has been
doing exactly the same thing. In such a civilization, we
first have to recognize that every person is
a child of God,[20]and
that we are all extremely valuable to Him. To
pinpoint this is crucial. These two Popes have
spoken against the “culture of death”, but not that many
of us are aware of their proposed alternative, which is
“a civilization of love”. By far, one of the strongest
spiritual battle we are facing today is between
the culture of death and the culture of life.[21]
The world is tired of the continuous chaos and disorder
of our modern society. The world is in dire need of true
love, of rebuilding what was once lost. The salvation
and eternal happiness of both men and women is at
stake.We have to spread a message of hope to everyone,
especially to those who are worn-out of the society It
is up to us to be part of this transformation. It is up
to us to answer God’s call.
We must
do everything possible within our power to heal our
wounded culture.
With God’s grace, we do have the power to transform the
world.
Are we up for the challenge? Are we going to step up the
plate and take over the world with God’s transforming
power of love?
In order to reach out to the world and build a new
civilization, our hearts have to be expanded.
This is what loving to the extreme is all about.
The expansion of our hearts is crucial in this
undertaking. In the same measure that our heart
expands itself, or to put it in better words, in the
same measure that it permits itself to be enlarged and
expanded and doesn’t deny God’s love, then his Divine
Mercy ever pours forth and spreads out all its graces.[22]
The expansion of our hearts will come by God’s movement
of love. There has to be an interpersonal connection
between God, the Father and ourselves. “If the
expansion of our heart is centered on ourselves, then
our heart will become puffed-up in pride.”[23]
As true followers of Christ, it is imperative to
challenge each other to take an active role in our
Catholic faith, and start a movement towards this
civilization which will require many sacrifices,
numerous self-denials, and renunciations. It will mean
dying to everything the world endorses, which goes
totally against God’s true role, that of a heavenly
Father wanting to restore humanity. We must be able to
identify with the One whose outstretched arms on
the cross embraced us all. But in order to
experience this love of God, we must learn how to die,
and be able to rise again. Just like He did. By his
death on the cross, Jesus connected with us.
We have to be able to be connected with Him, as well.
This is the only way, we will make a major impact in our
modern society. In his truth is our freedom. His light
shines in darkness. And, we have to let God’s light
shine forth. “Take no part in the fruitless works of
darkness; rather expose them.”[24]
We will be able to transform the world by our daily
actions, our attitudes, but above all by our love. We
have the power to influence this world, because we have
God’s love behind us all the way. The desire
within our hearts sets up for us a main goal for action.
We have to become God’s role models. We must be
the new springtime of the Church and shine with our
witness of hope, faith, and love. We need to be a
testimony of hope for humanity. The world is not
restored once and for all; it is renewed every single
day. We have to be aware that we cannot do anything
without the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within us.
We have a great example to follow, in our beloved Pope
John Paul II’s untiring witness of hope which only comes
from Jesus Christ, he who was the one who guided the
Church into the Third Millenium. He is an excellent
role-model. We have to show, just like he did, the
Merciful love of God which transcends any human logic,
and is without measure.[25]
With the strength of God’s grace, we can accomplish
anything we put our minds to. We have our own
originality. Each one of us is unique. Therefore, we
should approach the world with the gifts God has
bestowed on us individually, and use them collectively
for His greater glory. We must blossom. We have to be
able to listen to others, be open and learn from each
other, and at the same time develop in them a love for
the Lord. Keeping in mind that each human being is known
and loved by God.
Each one of us is willed by God. Precisely in this
resides the deeper and greater solidarity of humankind –
that each individual person is fully realized in God,
because when He created us, He gave each one of us a
specific purpose in life that was not given to anyone
else. This is important to know, because this will lead
us to understand the value of each human life from God’s
perspective. Our lives are precious to God. We are
important to Him. We matter to Him.
We have to be brave in our initiatives. Open, and ready
to give the world the best of what we have to offer,
which is God’s love living inside of each one of us.
“It is not the number of our works that are
important, but the intensity of the love that we put
into every action.”[26]
This could not have been better said.
In order to allow God’s love to flow freely within our
hearts, we have to be open-hearted. We need to be aware
that joy opens up the heart, while sorrow closes it.
Every word we say ,every gesture we make, every
attitude we show, has to be the most attractive one in
our lives. We have to give our love and our smile to
everyone, without exception.
[27]
Realizing that without love, I do not possess God, and I
cannot give Him to others. We have to be the
cornerstones of a true “civilization of love”. There is
no doubt, that what we have to offer is clearly an
opposition to what the world has been bombarding us
with.
The Three Most Influential Dynamisms of Love
What is the dynamism, the force, the energy, the active
strength within our bodies and our minds which will help
us accomplish all of this in today’s world?
The three most influential dynamisms of love to build a
new civilization are as follows:
The first strength is to TRULY fall in love with
Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. When you fall in
love in this particular case, with our beloved God, He
becomes the only one in our lives who interests us. He
is our exclusive attraction, our only priority. All of
our focus is placed on Him alone. Our life becomes
joyful and smooth. Everything else becomes secondary. We
strive to please him in everything we do, because we
love him. And, we have to be capable of running with
that love. It has to be dynamic, energetic, full of
life. We need to be able to engage with the world and
reveal to humanity who is it that we truly love. “In
the case of Jesus, the more one knows him and is
together with him, the more one discovers new reasons to
be in love with him and is confirmed in one’s choice.”
[28]
This is so true.
To be attractive living posters of Jesus Christ should
be high up on our list. We must become God’s walking
billboard. We have to be approachable. When people see
us, they have to be able to see Christ in us. It has to
be noticeable in our lives that we love God above all
things. We have to be men and women of the people
and for the people. We should be in love with
our faith and be joyful about sharing it with others.
The world needs convinced and enthusiastic Catholics.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen and He is alive, we need
to cheerfully portray this truth to the world.
The second force or energy is to be men and women
in love with the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
and our Mother. With her love, we will be able to
transform the world. She wants to use us to bring others
to Christ, her Son. We will not be able to build a new
civilization of love without Mary’s intercession.
We need to be Marian people. The world needs
Mary now more than ever. They need her to be their
role-model, someone to follow, but most importantly,
they need her as their heavenly Mother who comes to the
rescue of all her children.
She is
totally God-like.
She is the most perfect, human creature ever created
without sin. We need her graces flowing to us from Her
motherly heart that loves us, and then transmit them to
the world. We need to consecrate the world to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, because we strongly believe
that she leads us to Jesus. She is the safest and surest
way to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Today, it is urgent to give Mary the place she needs to
occupy in our hearts. As religious sisters, we
need to be other Mary’s in the world.[29]
And, what a high calling this is.
We must influence those in the world, those who
surround us, so that their hearts may be open, so that
Mary can be the Queen of each and every soul wherever
they may be in the world.[30]
And, in our lives, as religious sisters, this should be
our main objective and our primary goal.
We must tell all souls, both collectively and
individually, how the Virgin Mary would think, speak,
and act in the concrete circumstances of our daily lives
in the different states of life, so that the most
perfect love, would be enkindled all over the earth.[31]
If we want to show Mary how much we love her, the best
way to do so is by sharing our love for her with others.
Let us imitate Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe in his motto
of the Militia of the Immaculate, which was: “To
lead all men and every individual through Mary to the
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.”[32]
The third dynamism or force is to be constantly
loving one another and intensely from the heart.
This world will only change if they TRULY see us loving
each other, not by pretending to love like the world
loves, but by being authentic witnesses of what we
believe. We have to diminish ourselves and not be in
competition with others like the world expects us to.
Precisely in detaching ourselves from our self-love
is what sets us free, so that true love can essentially
take the place of saying, “I want you to be.”
We have to bring forth the other, and this cannot be
done without the loss of self. We have to bring out the
best of each other. “I want you to be better than
me, and I rejoice at the fact that others prefer you
over me.”
We have to focus on the beautiful gifts others have,
which God has blessed them with. This is of great
significance. In Pope Benedict’s XVI Encyclical “God is
Love,” we read the following phrase, which summarizes it
stupendously: “By seeing with the eyes of Christ,
I can give them the look of love the world is craving
for. Only my readiness to encounter my neighbor and to
show him love will make me sensitive to God as well.”[33]
We are One Body in Christ, we are His Church; therefore,
we have to feel responsible for each other. The greater
the feeling of responsibility for each individual
person, the more true love there is. The world is not
used to this type of love, because their definition of
love has been deformed.
From
true freedom comes true love and God is calling us to
show the world what true love is all about.
He is calling all of us to deepen our love more and more
towards each other. One act of perfect love regenerates
the soul. It is really not that difficult, because the
essence of this act is sacrificial love.[34]
And, all of us are called to sacrificial love
if we are to follow the Lamb of God. How do we
accomplish this? How do we begin to truly love one
another, the way God loves us? By being
transparent in our thoughts, words, actions, and deeds.
Transparency of heart means truly showing our hearts,
just as they are, demonstrating what we are all about.
The love that God has placed in our hearts has to
be revealed through us. Jesus wants to use us as
His instruments, He depends on us, not because He has
to, but because He loves us too much to leave us the way
we are. He first wants to transform us, so then we can
transform the world. If we want to prove that we really
love Christ, the benchmark for our spirituality is
genuine love for our brothers and sisters. If we want to
really love Christ the way He deserves, we must not just
go up with our eyes fixed towards heaven and forget
about the world around us, we must also, and it may
sound like a contradiction – move downwards, and become
humble, small, minuscule.[35]
The minute we start becoming big, smallness ceases. Then
God withdraws.
Therefore, in all humility, just like Christ, we have to
commit all of our energies into building this
civilization of love, in complete awareness that if we
want humanity to really encounter the Lord, we have to
give ourselves completely to Him and detach ourselves
from our own attachments. Freedom always demands
renunciation of every form of attachment.
Together, we can build a new culture of life. We must
overcome all divisions and barriers, which, withouta
doubt, are going to come our way. But with God’s love,
we can certainly surpass any obstacles we may encounter.
Because his love automatically transforms, and it brings
healing to our hearts. Wherever we find ourselves in our
life’s journey, we have to be concerned about what is
happening in the world. We cannot detach ourselves from
this reality. It affects all of us. We
cannot continue to ignore it. Bringing a message of
hope to a society which is in despair is a commitment we
must fulfill. Especially, as religious sisters, we have
to seriously take the Lord’s command to be “the salt and
light of the world.”
The Lord expects nothing less from us. Our lives
have to show that Christ is going through the world in
us.[36]
If this does not happen, all our endeavor is
self-deception. Our love for Christ has to be
all-embracing, it must transform us totally, so we can
transform others with it. He has to be the focal
point in our lives.[37]
We have to “get out of ourselves,” and “give of
ourselves” entirely to our brothers and sisters.
When we do this is liberating. Because when we truly get
out of our own self-love, and our own selfishness, we
automatically place ourselves last. And, we become
more aware of each other’s needs.
Furthermore, when we stop thinking about ourselves, and
start thinking of others first, by renouncing to the
things we like and to our own self-will, this is how the
new civilization of love will begin. Only God can
take us out of ourselves. Due to our sinful
nature, we are all capable of doing what we don’t like
to do, this is the reason why we have to continuously
ask for God’s grace in our lives, to be able to truly
live out what He anticipates and desires of us.
We must always see in other human beings persons with
whom one day we shall be sharing heaven with.[38]
Have we ever thought about the extent of what this
means? Do we look at our brothers and sisters this way?
We must look upon them as persons who are being
called by God to His Heavenly Kingdom (even though they
may not know it yet). If we can lessen their burdens,
let us strive to do so. Arrogance is what makes us think
we can do it ourselves, that we are self-sufficient.That
we don’t need to see people in the world like God sees
them. The world entices us to concentrate in seeing only
their shortcomings and faults. When we do this, we are
debasing human dignity, we are not treating them like
God expects us to. If we really desire others to follow
Jesus Christ in a radical way, we have to make it
attractive to them by loving them with His Love.
The reality is that man has fallen and continues to
fall.[39]
And, we are not exempt from this reality. On the
contrary, we can fall and very easily. It is extremely
important to cling to Jesus and Mary to give us the
potency that we need in order to fulfill their mission
on earth.
How can we foster an ardent love for Christ in our
society? By making the tabernacle our favorite
spot where we can rest and acquire all the necessary
energy to go out into the world and proclaim his Truth.[40]
We must have a great love for all the souls in the
world, without exception. And, be genuinely concerned
for their salvation. In laboring for souls, we must give
our utmost. The loss of even one soul is a misfortune.
There are many ways we can manifest our love for each
other. First and foremost, through prayer.
By far, this is the number one way to show our brothers
and sisters we truly care for them. Then, we can do acts
of penance, mortifications, corporal and spiritual works
of mercy. The greatest penances are the ones our own
daily life has in store for us. We can do small
tasks everyday as part of reparation for the sins of the
world.
We may not see the results right away, but we can
certainly see them in the long run. These are only a few
acts we can do out of love for others. And, throughout
our entire lifetime, God gives us plenty of
opportunities to exercise these acts of love. To quote
our Mother Foundress: "Freedom of the heart is the
capacity to love, to give ourselves unconditionally and
totally, without reserve."[41]
This phrase says it all. It summarizes what we ought to
do. We all have the capacity to love, if we let
ourselves be transformed. Yes, man is truly great
precisely because he is “capable of God” because he is
called to enter into this intimate relationship with
God.[42]
The world is used of allowing their relationships with
others define them, by going along with the crowd, even
if this is immoral, and unethical. We have to
re-define them in Christ. If there is someone
who can re-define who they are is Jesus Christ, our
Lord. No one else has this right. He is the only
one who can restore in them, their true identity as
children of God. We cannot expect the world to
change, if we, ourselves don’t change first. It
begins with us. It begins with our personal example.
We have to become the living stones in the building of
this new civilization. This is the kind of people Christ
is calling us to be. Totally dedicated to His message of
Love and being able to transmit it with our own lives.
We have
to become beacons of Christ in the world. We have been “chosen out of the world” by God. When we act
out of that sense of belonging, in total awareness that
we do not “belong to the world,” then we can change the
world. God’s love is our true source of strength.[43]
Each one of our actions has either a positive or a
negative consequence. And, it is important that
we become aware of this. He alone can give us the power
that we need in order to help him win all souls. There
is no time to be flattering ourselves that we have done
a great job so far, the harvest is immense, and every
minute counts, the Lord needs us and He needs us now. He
is counting on us. Let us courageously build this
civilization of love, which, by all means, is going to
be our life’s work.
We have a great advantage and a special honor given to
us by God. Out of love, He chose us. We didn’t choose
him. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and
beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience.[44]
It
seems the world is screaming for this kind of love,
which is patient, kind, meek and humble. Humanity has
been shown that love is the total opposite of this. God
is a mystery and He seeks humanity as a whole.
Nonetheless, out of pure love, this most amazing God
took on a human body, as Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
He is the Word made flesh. And, he humbled himself by
becoming one of us. But God does not force humanity to
come to Him, for then this would not be true love. Some
will accept him, some will reject him. And God respects
their decision (even though it hurts Him), because He
loves them.
To
quote Pope Benedict XVI’s words, as he was addressing on
the occasion of his visit to Washington, D.C., and New
York, this past April 15th to the 20th,
of the current year: “I am convinced that without the
power of prayer, without that intimate union with the
Lord, our human endeavours would achieve very little.
Indeed this is what our faith teaches us. It is God who
saves us, he saves the world, and all of history.
He is the Shepherd of his people. I am coming, sent by
Jesus Christ, to bring you his word of life.”[45]
Together with our Bishops, he chose as the theme of his
journey three simple but essential words: "Christ
our hope."[46]
Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Paul VI
and John Paul II, He came to United States of America as
Pope for the first time, to proclaim this great truth:
“Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every
language, race, culture and social condition.”
Absolutely, Christ is the face of God present among us.
“Through him, our lives reach fullness, and together,
both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family
united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan
of God the Father.”[47]
Just as the Vicar of Christ, all of us are also sent by
Christ to reach out to the world and proclaim His Truth
to all humanity to build this new civilization of love,
what an undeserved privilege, indeed.
Conclusion
To build or promote a new civilization of love and life,
implies a personal decision, on our part. We have to
embrace humanity at the level that it’s in. We have to
convince the world that Jesus Christ gave His life for
them, so they can decide to give up their lives for Him.
We have to have a zealous and active love for His Body,
the Church. And, to put into action, everything we know,
everything the Lord and His Church have taught us over
these past years, specifically during the Pontificate of
Pope John Paul II. Then, and only then, I believe the
whole world would be changed. Convictions have to be
built up. They don’t happen overnight, they take time,
let us not despair.Let us persevere until the end.
Knowing the movements of our hearts is crucial in this
undertaking, because our hearts have to be on fire for
Christ. We must be eager to communicate His truth to the
world. We have to be willing to suffer for the souls of
the world who don’t know Christ yet, and we have to do
it lovingly and joyfully following the footsteps of
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
We can
transform the world by being people “in love” with Love
itself.
This is the only way we are going to be able to touch
their hearts. The past is gone. We don’t know what the
future holds. Therefore, we have to live the present
moment, and embark on this adventure of love, which
perhaps might be our only opportunity to really live out
God’s love to its full potential. With that said, if we
really want to be authentic witnesses of love to the
world, we have to love, and we have to love now.
We must not only love Christ, we must portray it
lovable and accessible to everyone…In other words,
make loving Jesus Christ extremely attractive.
Our love for our God has to be so radical, so bountiful
that it overflows and allows others to become a part of
it. Our relationship with Jesus and Mary needs to be
extremely solid, because the energy, the strength, and
the force behind everything we do will come from our
intimate relationship with these Two Hearts.
Pope Benedict XVI has given us a beautiful gift, his
Encyclical God is Love, (Deus Caritas Est.)
Let us treasure it in our hearts, and apply it in
our daily lives. In this encyclical, he invited all of
us to find the meaning of our lives by discovering and
experiencing authentic love, which can only be found in
Jesus Christ, our Lord. And, all of us are called to
share this love with all humanity.
We will
never go wrong if we follow the Vicar of Christ. If we
are obedient to the Magisterium of the Church, we can
rest assured where the Holy Spirit is leading us. Pope
Benedict XVI has set up the ground for us, He has
prepared the way for us, and He is showing us how to do
it in His Pontificate. Let us be true, faithful
daughters of the Church, willing to love her no matter
the cost, and be authentic witnesses of Love. Let us not
be afraid to be witnesses of hope, in this journey of
love. To proclaim to all the earth that
“Christ is our hope”
is our greatest challenge. It is such and undeserved
privilege to bear witness to Christ.
Life is the greatest gift God has given to humanity.
And, because there is only one life to live, and only
one way of living it; let us live our life for Christ.
[1]
West. The Love that Satisfies, 22.
[5]
Testimony of Hope, p. 5 and Isaah 49:1
[6]
A civilization of love – What every Catholic can
do to transform the world – Webpage Article
(excerpts from the book)
[7]
The Theology of Hearts in the Writings of St.
Francis de Sales, p.60
[12]
The Theology of Hearts in the Writings of St.
Francis de Sales, p.67
[14]
The Theology of Hearts in the Writings of St.
Francis de Sales, p.94
[16]
The Theology of Hearts in the Writings of St.
Francis de Sales, p.76
[20]
A Civilization of Love – What Every Catholic can
do to transform the world – Webpage Article
(taken from excerpts from the book)
[21]
A Civilization of Love – What Every Catholic can
do to transform the world – Webpage Article
(taken from excerpts from the book).
[22]
The Theology of the Hearts in the Writings of
St. Francis de Sales, p.94
[25]
Testimony of Hope – The Spiritual Exercises of
John Paul II, p.75
[26]
Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s quotes online –
Thinkexist.com
[27]
Testimony of Hope – The Spiritual Exercises of
John Paul II, p. 92
[28]
Article – Falling in Love with Christ – Gospel
Commentary for 2nd. Sunday of Lent –
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Pontifical
Household Preacher. February 17, 2008
[29]
Mother Adela’s personal exhortations with our
religious community
[33]
Benedict XVI – Encyclical Letter – Deus Caritas
Est – God is Love – Online Version – Vatican
Webpage
[34]
The Theology of the Hearts in the Writings of
St. Francis de Sales – p.78
[35]
Christ My Life, p. 46
[36]
Christ My Life, p.45
[38]
Let God’s Shine Forth, p.106
[40]
Christ My Life, p.46
[41]
Mother Adela’s writings, quotes and sayings –
taken from Webpage – www.piercedhearts.org
[42]
Let God’s Light Shine Forth, p.105
[43]
Testimony of Hope – The Spiritual Exercises of
John Paul II – p.102
[45]
Pope Benedict XVI Address on his recent visit to
the United States of America – Vatican Webpage –
http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
[47]
Pope Benedict XVI Address on his recent visit to
the United States of America – Vatican Webpage –
http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
West, Christopher. The Love that Satisfies. West
Chester, PA: Ascension Press, 2007
2. Benedict XVI – Encyclical Letter – Deus Caritas Est –
“God is Love” – December 25, 2005
3. Nguyen Van Thuan, Francis Xavier.
Testimony of Hope – The Spiritual Exercises of John
Paul II - Pauline Books and Media, 2000
4. Abruzzese, John A. The Theology of the Hearts in the
Writings of St. Francis de Sales. Institute of
Spirituality Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
– Rome, 1985
5. Wojtyla, Karol, Love and Responsibility. Ignatius
Press, 1993
6. Anderson, Carl, A Civilization of Love – What Every
Catholic can do to transform the World. Internet Article
- Harper One Publishers, March 2008
7. Moynihan, Robert, Let God’s Light Shine Forth – The
Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI. Doubleday Press.
2005
8. Marian Thoughts of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Aim
Higher.
