What Love Is 

   “Love does not mean to have and to own and to possess.  It means to be had and to be owned and to be possessed.” (Bishop Fulton Sheen, “The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen: 365 Days of Inspiration.”) 

   We misuse the word “love” so often that it has lost its true meaning.  We love our ice cream, our car, our job, our pets, etc.  We also claim to love others, but it is often perverted as a means of gaining something from another; we love the other only as long as we are pleased with them.

    Even in the marriage vows we inappropriately define love.  We “take” our spouse to have and to hold.  Rather, we should "give" ourselves to our spouse for them to have and to hold.  Even in the sacrament of marriage love is many times conditioned on the performance of the spouse.  Some even consider that if the “feeling” of being in love is lost, the marriage should be ended.  But love is not a feeling, it is an action.  It is a conscious decision to put the good of the other above our own good.

   Jesus offers us this kind of love.  For us He became a man, born of a woman.  An infant dependent on the love and care of the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph.  In today’s society a young virgin becoming pregnant might well end in abortion.  Consider that for a moment; today it would acceptable, and even approved, to murder the Messiah in the womb.

   He not only entrusted His very life to Mary and Joseph, He willingly and lovingly surrendered that life to pay the price for our sins, opening the way to heaven.  He cared only for the good of the other; those who would come to Him seeking His endless mercy and love.

   As we consider what we love and how we love we must look to the One who was pure love.  We must willingly place the good of the other above our own desires and needs.  We must love as He loved. 

Love is solution.

The cure for all hatred and bias.

In love we can heal the divisions.

Give us that love we pray. 

Amen