Ave Maria Meditations
With Valentine’s Day, we might think and hear a lot about “Love”. But what is love? Is it a feeling or an emotion? In the Bible the word “charity” can also be substituted by the word love. This is described in the Catholic Catechism (#1822) as the theological virtue which is a firm good habit by which we love God above all things for His own sake and our neighbors as ourselves out of that love for God. And we truly come to love God when we realize He first loved us (see Jn 14:19). Our Lord Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12). And how did Jesus show His love? In the greatest love story ever told through His life, death, and resurrection. It was a life of self-sacrifice.
Have you ever heard the expression “Love is its own reward”? What does it mean? Earlier was the question asking if love is a feeling. Not necessarily. True love desires the greatest good for the beloved. True love will sacrifice for the sake of the one loved. Without the willingness to sacrifice, there is not a true love. And the greatest good? Heaven! We want to live and love in such a way that it does not hinder the beloved’s path to heaven; we want to help them on that journey. To say that love is its own reward means to not need or require thanks or recognition. It is enough that a good virtuous act was done and God knows it.
God is love and deserves our love for Him in return. Our Lord showed His Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary and lamented that too few love God. We have wonderful and holy devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary: they are all about loving God in return for His love for us.
And now for some homework for you that is a gift for the spiritual life on the question what is love. Read Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians! Chapter 1, verses 1-13 ends with these words “Faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love (charity). All else flows from there.
Ave Maria!
