Looking to Scripture one notices that, on numerous occasions, Christians are invited to be “witnesses”. Acts 1:8, for example, says: “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. … But what exactly does it mean for one to be a witness? On this matter, St Augustine writes that, “to be a witness for Jesus means that you speak about Jesus to others with your actions and words”. A more expressive definition is the following:

A witness is a person who calls attention to something other than himself, one who is called upon to give—or to be—evidence of something. He gives—or is—witness. All true religious witness is an exteriorization of inner commitment; it transmits truth to others in a living way. A witness is a person totally given to God and his fellow men. There are three elements in this Christian witness: message, signs to convince, divine helps to awaken and draw others to God.

In reading the above, perhaps a level of scepticism could befall us.  In today’s world, how effective is it to ‘attend to something other than myself’? More specifically, how would I be helping others if I ‘exteriorised’ my inner commitment and my personal relationship with God? … How can I authentically do this?

Rajesh Mohur’s Profound Search For God

Born in Mauritius, Rajesh Mohur was a Hindu from a family of the Brahmin caste, the highest Hindu caste. His father was a priest and president of the Hindu Association of Mauritius. He taught his son all the Hindu prayers and instilled religious culture and history in him. Rajesh narrates how: ‘‘[My father] used to teach me from the early beginning about all of their prayers … about the scriptures, Indian scriptures”. Eventually, at the age of 16, Rajesh was sent to Gujarat to continue his studies.

After gaining admission to a university, Rajesh graduated with a degree in physics. During his time there, he was even more fully immersed in Hindu culture and religious practice. ‘‘I’ve been to so many temples. I met so many gurus in the meditation center, and I met swamis”, Rajesh recalls here.  ‘‘I witnessed all of those places. It was peaceful, you know. Nice. But your life doesn’t change. … I was in search of a living God.’’

‘‘My journey was always to find something that … from myself, deep down, I could not fulfil.”

Just as he was about to enrol in a master’s program in England, Rajesh learned of his father’s death. As a result, he soon returned to Mauritius to help his family, who were facing financial problems. Full of anger and bitterness, Rajesh took refuge in Hindu prayer, but was unable to find solace.

‘‘And then I met Carlo, such a small child’’, Mohur remembers.

Touched in the Heart by a Child

Rajesh’s first impression of Carlo Acutis, with his brown curly hair, was that he looked like the little cherubs seen in paintings and sculptures around Milan. On his second day working for the family, Mohur recounts that little Carlo approached him with a big smile and a gift — a piece of chewing gum. And on rainy days, Carlo would sometimes watch videotapes of cartoons based on the Bible and the lives of the saints together with Rajesh, who watched with interest because he had not had much exposure to Catholicism.

After Carlo made his first Communion at the age of 7, Rajesh would walk with him to the church around the corner from his house for Mass or to pray on his way to and from school.  This is because Carlo enjoyed going to church regularly to pray before or after school. It was there that Rajesh witnessed young Carlo’s soul blossoming like beautiful roses in spring!

“His behaviour changed when he was inside the church, with all respect. He knew that there was something different where Jesus lives…. That touched my heart,” recalls Rajesh.

But the young boy’s generosity with others and the way he spoke about his faith was what ultimately converted Rajesh. He confesses, “seeing Carlo’s acts, you know, (the acts) of such a small child, that was what converted me”.

Speaking of God with a “Sweetness”

One particular trait of Carlo was his tendency and eagerness to talk to Mohur about the things that he loved: heaven, the Mass, and the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He explained everything with ‘‘such a sweetness”, Rajesh writes. ‘‘He always talked about the Eucharist, Jesus, how he suffered for us … sacrificed his life for us’’

‘‘Carlo, told me that wherever you go, you may find Jesus present in Flesh, Soul, and Blood [in the tabernacle].’’ Here, Rajesh would ask Carlo how such a thing could be possible, and then the boy would explain the Eucharist to him, along with other aspects of the faith.

“He did this so sweetly. It felt as if we had already gone up to heaven.”

Finally, as he grew up, Carlo taught Rajesh to pray the Rosary, and explained to him the the importance of the sacraments and other truths of the faith. “He knew the Catechism of the Catholic Church almost by heart and explained it so brilliantly that he managed to get me excited about the sacraments”, says Rajesh. When he then told Carlo that he had been having dreams about Jesus, Carlo responded, “Jesus loves you, Rajesh.”

Encountering the Living God

‘‘So, slowly, slowly … he used to tell me the importance of baptism and so many other things also’ … all those experiences changed my life. And I could see the living God’’. Four years after first meeting Carlo, Rajesh was baptized. He was in his late 30s at the time, and as an adult entering the Catholic Church, he received at once all the Catholic sacraments of initiation: baptism, first communion, and confirmation in a Mass at Acutis’ parish in 1999.

Carlo’s family threw a party afterward for Rajesh and his friends, sharing sweets and snacks at their apartment. Mohur let Carlo pick where to go out for dinner. He said that Carlo proposed: ‘‘Let’s go to the Chinese restaurant today because it’s a special day.’’  Mohur joked in reply: ‘‘It’s special for me, but it’s more special for you because you like Chinese food’.’ Joking aside, Acutis later told his parents: ‘‘There are many people who do not realize what an infinite gift it is to receive baptism’’.

Carlo’s (and our) Role In All This

How did Carlo manage to get Rajesh “excited about the sacraments”? How did he “touch his heart”? How did he help Rajesh discover the “infinite gift of baptism”? Surely, God and His grace played a role in all this. But there must have been something more –

Carlo’s total co-operation with God! This was not a co-operation that was done out of mere ‘duty’, ‘habit’ or ‘ritual’ – but a co-operation done out of love; within a living relationship of love! Indeed, it was not only Carlo’s versed knowledge of the Catholic Faith and the Catechism, it was not only his ability to outline the reasoning behind the Faith with a sweetness – these are all crucial and important – but it was also his living witness to a living God. It was Carlo’s selfless love – which permeated all his actions and thoughts. It was love – integrated with love for the other and for all creation – that healed Rajesh and showed him, ultimately, the true identity of that God whom he had been searching for all his life.

We too are called to ‘attend to something other than our self’. And although we may not be called to do this in the same way Carlo did – we are certainly called to express the same degree of love (if not more)! Learning love’s ropes is an infinite journey in itself, but God never denies our search or any request for help. We may even begin from the very beginning and simply ask God to cultivate within us the desire to love – or to understand what it means to love in a fuller and more holistic way. So, let’s just try to ask. Through love, we shall most certainly be given!

Read More –

Are We All Called to Be Disciples?

Science-and-God

The post From Hindu to Catholic: The Beautiful Effects of Witnessing Jesus! appeared first on Universe of Faith.

I’m very patriotic when it comes to language, literature, and culture, but not so with music. When it comes to choosing between Malta Eurovision Song Contest and Sanremo, I choose the latter. Just to clarify, by ‘following’ I mean scrolling through the songs on my smartphone, since I neither have a television nor enough patience and time to spend in front of a light emitting box.

For the Ariston Theatre, this year’s concert was a good one because many of the songs that made it to the final stage were somewhat beautiful in their style, melody, or lyrics. Even if initially I didn’t give it too much importance, one of the songs that struck me most was Tango by Tananai, which placed fifth.

After hearing it for several times and watched the music video, I realised that this was a contemporary masterpiece. To put you in context, it speaks of two lovers separated by the war in Ukraine. The music video is made up of a divided screen, with clips of her and their daughter (both refugees in Italy) on the left, and on the right, clips shot by him; an inexperienced soldier, back in Ukraine during their daily video calls.

To some extent it’s a typical Italian love ballad, with statements featuring the desire to return to the day they met and reverse the events so that they won’t be suffering of a love-story lived at a distance. However, there are also a couple of disturbing lines that almost shook me and made me struggle to bring out their real meaning after reading through the lyrics repeatedly. The last lines of the pre-chorus and the opening lines of the chorus are as follow:

Lo so quanto ti manco, ma chissà perché Dio

Ci pesta come un tango e ci fa dire

Amore tra le palazzine a fuoco

La tua voce riconosco …

When I heard “God” and “tango” in such proximity, a repressed memory from my secondary school years came to the fore: the stupid song called ‘Lord of the Dance’ which we sang during mass and which I hated wholeheartedly. Moreover, it’s quite weird to imagine God dancing tango, being a Trinity and not a couple (apologies for the blasphemy). But what’s most harsh about these few words is that it’s as if God is trampling on them like in a tango dance because of this horrendous experience they’re going through, and yet the singer somewhat acknowledges that it is God that makes them say, “my love,” even in the midst of broken buildings and explosions.

This paradox has baffled theologians and philosophers for millennia, and they only managed to reach partial answers which are either too logical to touch the heart, or too sentimental to make a cohesive argument. However, I cannot stop listening to these verses because, let’s face it, as we pray in the Our Fathers’—“and lead us not into temptation”—we know that in life we pass through many trials, and ‘faith’ removes nothing from the suffering to be endured.

In a sense, sometimes, only poetry, music, and art can transmit the belief that God is there, even amid our hells, and that it is only love that makes hell bearable, both that of our loved ones and also His love—which is not always easy to see and verify.

Yet God’s love guides our stories, both in their highs and also in their lows. God’s love endures even when we promise that on a Monday we’ll be back, but have little faith that Monday will ever come (Io tornerò un lunedì/Ma non è mai lunedì). Love makes our hearts beat and it itself sows small seeds of love amid deserts.

So, back to the question, “Tananai’s Tango and… God?”… I think this art-piece succeeds at showing that only God, while sometimes apparently trampling on us in the dance of his love for us, makes us capable of loving (i.e., even when we are living through hell on earth). He who is love itself, gives us the grace to not give into doubt, fear, anxiety, or egoism. Indeed, and here, in being transformed into God’s nature, we become selfless like him. Through love and being loved, we become love.

It is only if we sow love that humanity will be able to reap the fruit of love one day. This fruit is not a forbidden fruit, but a fruit that God wishes us to feed on abundantly!

Read More –

Top-popes-quotes-about-sacred-music/

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The passion and the crucifixion of Christ are very dear to me. In fact, I sincerely believe that if Christ had to call me to be His disciple, He would call me during that journey. In Christ who is suffering, I do not see a man whom I should pity; in Christ who is undergoing His passion, feelings of guilt and shame stay away from me. As He undergoes his passion, rather, I find myself lost in His loving gaze for me. My eyes meet His and I feel tenderly loved in a complete way, in a way I have never imagined before. I feel immersed in an ocean of unconditional love.

As He is enduring the scourging, I do not see Jesus as a victim of human sin, but my Saviour who is freeing me and saving me. I realise how deeply precious and dear I am for God. I find myself wanting to hide and find comfort in His wounds. I find myself wanting to walk all this journey with Him – to be there for Him. And I can see the Spirit of the Resurrection already present.

Why should I be afraid of His passion, why should I seek to run away – when in those moments I can experience his deepest and most tender love for me?

His blood is sanctifying. It heals me. He gives me the courage to follow in His footsteps and also embrace the pains of my life steadfastly. I love the passion of Christ, for I do not simply see a human being who is undergoing pain and suffering from human sin, but the glory of God. Because during this affliction, from Him emerged only light, unconditional love, forgiveness. A torrential of graces were poured on to us! And these are graces which give us the strength to receive and accept the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Graces which, when we believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is our Saviour, can give us the faculty to transform our lives completely.

In light of all this, I am reminded of a metaphor that a priest once narrated on a radio-station. He compared the journey of Christ’s death and resurrection to a woman giving labour. The pain and suffering, irrespective of their horror, are ultimately needed for the child to be born. This means that suffering isn’t something that we should always attempt to escape, but to realise that sometimes there is a kind of freedom and potential growth in it. In a sense, the Resurrection wouldn’t make sense without the antecedence of Death. And this death – all form of death – is never separated from He who loves us. Grace gives colour even to the blackness of the tomb.

See More – Top-pope-francis-quotes-on-death/

What-is-the-good-news-of-the-catholic-faith/

The post How Should We React Toward Christ’s Passion? appeared first on Universe of Faith.

“The future has many faces”.

Without making any reference to the company that uses this slogan, I found it quite surprising to see such a philosophical statement used as an advert in our useless bus shelters (i.e., unless they’re to be used as greenhouses during summer or as bathroom cubicles during winter).

But at least, by claiming that the future has many faces, the advert departs from a deeply ingrained deterministic mind-set of us Maltese, especially with exclamations such as, “hekk kellu jkun”—that’s how things had to be—or “kienet miktuba għalih”—it was written for him. And this is quite funny because, for such statements to be tenable, we have to imagine a ginormous library with unending rows of shelving racks filled with whole volumes of books that contain all the details of how a person’s life will evolve, or rather proceed.

This reminds me of a film I watched some years ago, The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon as David Norris and Emily Blunt as Elise Sellas, who play the part of a couple that struggle to go against their predetermined separate plans until they are ultimately granted free-will. Without entering into detail, the movie reflects in a very bizarre way how sometimes we really see things in a contradictory way: everything is predetermined, and yet, at the same time, we are not willing to admit that such belief implies that we don’t really possess free-will. And this is so true because, “free will is a gift, you’ll never know how to use until you fight for it”, as the character Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) well claims.

Returning back to our argument after this digression: what can be the different faces that the future possesses?

I don’t know. Maybe the face of success, as the company surely won’t promote the face of failure. Maybe the face of power that derives from success, because surely it cannot be the face of meekness that is perceived as weakness by society (i.e. since meekness tends towards gaining respect and, consequently, authority—unlike power, which is obtained by control). Maybe the face of fame which tends to peak and then heads toward a torrential downfall.

I don’t know what faces my—and our—future will have. But hopefully—in the sense of ‘full of hope’, and not in the sense of ‘if I’m lucky enough’ or ‘if the gods permit”— it has at least two faces.

Firstly, the face of humanity which, irrespective of our diverging roads, different social standing, and contrasting views, puts us on the same level and, especially in times of crisis, forces us to cooperate and respect each other as members of the same species.

And, secondly, the face of God-made-man who, in his abyssal downfall, showed us what it really means to be human: the ability to look towards the other and see in the other the face of God who’s image we are all created in and by whose incarnate face we were smiled at and redeemed.

Fr Gilbert Scicluna 

Gilbert Scicluna is a Catholic Priest, currently serving at the parish of Christ the King, Paola, and co-editor of the website behold.mt.

The post “The Future Has Many Faces” – A Reflection appeared first on Universe of Faith.

There’s a space in the beauty of Creation that only you can fill.

There’s a difference in the world that only you can make.

There’s a particular calling that can only be answered through your will.

There’s a valuable story to be written and told only through your voice.

There’s a process of forgiveness that frees others, which can only happen through your transformative journey of healing.

There’s a particular cross that only you can embrace and bear.

There’s a life of prayer that always awaits for your soul to kneel.

There’s a dance, that the spirit of God gracefully longs to direct your steps in.

There’s a song waiting to be sung through your spirit as it rises to Him.

There’s a love to be shared only through your self-gift.

All you once were, all you presently are, and all you are yet to be, are deeply seen as precious in the eyes of Him, of whom you are lovingly His.

In light of all this, finally, let us try to reflect upon how Jesus himself is a gift to us!

An unconditional love permeates God’s every act. This is expressed in His self-love as a gift to humanity – in Jesus – the wounded healer, the faithful lover – but it is also expressed in all of life that strives to live, it is expressed in a joy that points to more joy, it is expressed in the silence of a world that doesn’t need to exist but continues to, it is expressed in the cries of an infant who breathes fresh air for the first time, it is expressed in the Sacrament of Confession, through which God forgives and heals each bleeding wound perfectly, it is expressed even in pain, since pain (our distaste for it) reminds us of our real home, a home that is free of pain, free of death.

This Christmas, therefore, let us allow the one who has experienced each wound, to heal us, let us allow the one who, against all odds, continued to love, to really love us. Let us be born anew, as more healed, more loving, more human. As Meister Eckhart asked, “what good is it for me if Mary gave birth to the son of God 1400 years ago, and I don’t give birth to God’s son in my person and my culture and my times?”.

We are all meant to be “other Mary’s”. By God’s grace and guidance, we can all birth divinity!

Read More –

The Difference Jesus Makes in my Life – Universe of Faith

Lord I Need You, Where Are You? – Universe of Faith

Is Jesus Fully Human? – Universe of Faith

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• The Importance of Wonder

The 20th century poet T.S Eliot wrote, “the child wonders at the Christmas Tree … let him continue in the spirit of wonder …  so that the reverence and the gaiety may not be forgotten in later experience, or in the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium, the awareness of death, the consciousness of failure, or the piety of the convert,  … let him continue in the spirit of wonder, so that before the end, the accumulated memories of annual emotion, may be concentrated into a great joy … because the beginning shall remind us of the end, and the first coming of the second coming”.

T.S Eliot was aware of how cynical and oppressed the tragedies of the world can make us, but he was also aware of our longing for something more than this world. He knew that the earth reflects a beauty and a joy whose origins surpass it. Like children, therefore, let us allow ourselves to be in awe! Let us allow ourselves to marvel with a keen and sensitive heart. The rest will follow suit!

• As with all Christian celebrations, at its heart, Advent is a time in which God continues to give Himself to us! But on our part, as human beings, what does it take for us to fully and authentically ‘receive’? 

Reflecting upon this, the German philosopher Joseph Pieper concludes that, “there can be no festivity when man, imagining himself self-sufficient, refuses to recognize that Goodness of things which goes far beyond any conceivable utility; it is the Goodness of reality taken as a whole which validates all other particular goods and which man himself can never produce nor simply translate into social or individual “welfare”. He truly receives it (God’s love and goodness) only when he accepts it as pure gift”.

Certain objects of this world cannot be made or seen as tools for us to simply use. Rather, they need to be appreciated for their own sake. In this, we can slowly discover that they are gifts given to us freely. This is what love does, after all. It gives freely. And it is only when we see creation as a free and pure gift given to us by God, that we can feel truly loved by God and understand what creation truly is.

• Seeing desires as pathways to God

In the words of St Augustine, “the entire life of a good Christian is a holy desire. What you desire, however, you don’t yet see. But by desiring you are made large enough, so that, when there comes what you should see, you may be filled”.

Augustine reminds us that desires are signs that need to be prudently understood and interpreted.  But desires are also bridges. In desiring beauty, we reach out to it. In desiring love, we seek it. This is all good, because God wants to us to be filled. And so, let us not tire to ask, to beg, to be open, to yearn! And in doing so, let us try to turn to God as well. Augustine knew too well that, ultimately, only God can fully and completely satisfy us.

• No wounds are too big for God

In one his poems St. Thomas More wrote, “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal”.

Advent is a space in which Heaven can continue to penetrate and cultivate the earth. The earth is not fully separate from heaven, the two are not completely distinct. Indeed, in fact, the glory of earth is realised when God (heaven itself) is made one with it! This all culminates in the God-man; in Jesus himself, in him, the heaven and the earth are one.

• We’re all, in our unique ways, a faint image of God 

C.S Lewis, iconically known for crafting the Narnia book Series, noted that “we cannot conceive how the Divine Spirit dwelled within the created and human spirit of Jesus…. but what we can understand is that our own existence is a faint image of the Divine Incarnation itself… the same theme in a very minor key”.

We already harbour traces of God within us, and this can be discovered by us if we reflected deeply upon certain capacities and desires that we experience. Our nature, in its deepest core, longs for beauty, for love, for goodness, for truth – these are God’s fingerprints.

• Let yourself be perfected!

Finally, this Advent, with St. Theresa of Avila, let us express our humility and open our self to God’s healing grace. Time and again, St. Theresa prayed,

“I want to keep Advent in my soul, that is, a continual longing and waiting for this great Mystery wherein You, O Word, became flesh to show me the abyss of your redeeming sanctifying mercy….Come, O Lord, come! I too wish to run to You with love, but alas! My love is so limited, weak, and imperfect! Make it strong and generous; enable me to overcome myself, so that I can give myself entirely to You… What a consolation it will be, O Lord, at the moment of death to think that we shall be judged by Him whom we have loved above all things!”

Read more:

Astronomy and Faith – Universe of Faith

The post Profound Quotes on the Wonder, the Love, and the Joy of Advent appeared first on Universe of Faith.

Joy is our companion in life when we seek to be authentic, selfless, and free in the Spirit.

Joy is the genuine smile we express, when we are pondering on how grateful we are for our life.

Joy is the state of mind we experience when things are not necessarily happening as we wish them to be but we still experience deep peace within.

Joy does not need to be shot by a camera or shared on social media. It can be experienced in solitude or in the sole presence of a beloved.

Joy is what a father or a mother experience when their daughter or son who they had a difficult relationship with, now chooses to embrace them.

Joy is the gaze of a friend who looks at you dearly.

Joy are the tears that trickle down your cheeks, tears that come from a place deep within, after feeling deeply appreciated by someone who you have given your all to.

Joy is the person who realises that they have hurt someone, but they still try their best to amend things, even in their weaknesses.

Joy is the cheerful smile of a child who remembers a considerate word you have said to them.

Joy is the person who feels seen and accepted for who they truly are.

Joy is discovering a truth about yourself that you have long been searching for.

Joy is being each other’s messengers of His light.

Joy is finding a new true friend whom you can share your joys and struggles with.

Joy is understanding that even your suffering can have a purpose.

Finally, true joy is discovering that God is real and present in the life you live. It is knowing that God can use even your vulnerabilities to show His (and your) glory!

These blessings of joy do not cost money, but they cost everything.

To experience them deeply, one must offer all they are and all their life for a greater purpose. We must give our all to love purely and in simplicity.

In giving our all for love, we receive all that really matters. We receive God – love itself!

As Raïssa Maritain wrote in one of her diary entries: “joy is being able to call him Father with a great tenderness, to feel him so kind and so close to us”.

Written by Carla Borg

Read More:

What is the Good News of the Catholic Faith?

Spiritual Gifts That Ordinary People Can Give to Our Non-Ideal World

Why Are We Alive? Why Does the Human Race Exist?

The post What Is True Joy? – An Advent Reflection appeared first on Universe of Faith.

This poem about deep love describes how multifaceted love is. It describes both love between people and love as a feeling and experience.

Love cannot be described or explained in words.
A person can experience love and know it is love;
one can give love and feel s/he has given it to someone.
But love is too multifaceted to be contained in a singular definition.

Love is alive
Love gives life.
It protects from danger.
Love saves,
drives, ignites,
provides energy, motivation.
Love sparks into action,
brings awareness, awakens.
Love raises from death.

Love overcomes every obstacle,
every physical disability
every mental limitation,
every emotional hurt,
every spiritual aridity,
every natural law.

Love is a verb
Love gives, provides,
serves, feeds,
feels, expresses.
Love explains.
Love cares.
It seeks, finds and shares.
Love heals, restores,
touches, hugs,
brings joy.
Love sees beauty,
and love gives hope.

Love is that candle in the dark,
that caring tap on the shoulder,
that tear trickling down your face,
a child’s hug.
Love is a gift and a grace.
Love is abundant.

Love is intelligent
It observes,
associates,
listens, believes,
convinces.
Love is capable, competent.
Love knows.

Love is creative
It invents, creates, solves.
It searches, builds bridges, connects, joins.
Love can be random and spontaneous.
It converts, transforms,
moulds gently and slowly gives shape.

Love is not
Love is not segregation but unison;
not competition but collaboration;
not exclusion but inclusion;
not a relief but a cure;
not superficial but very intimate, touching the core,
not shallow but deep;
not a hierarchy but relationship;
not a feeling but a decision, a choice.
Love does not judge but listens, learns and understands;
Love does not take advantage or abuse;
It does not feel superior or try to inferiorise.
Love does not destroy.

Love can be paradoxical
Love can provide meaning,
but it can leave you questioning its mystery.
Love can be cruel,
to be kind.
Love shelters, protects,
but exposes to the elements too.
Love teaches slowly
but sometimes teaches you the hard way.
Love does not only have affinity with the beautiful;
but it does finds beauty in everything it loves.
Love can do miracles but demands hard work too.
Love is patient but can be furious.
It can give you energy but it can tire you out.
Love offers but does not impose.
Love prays but does not beg.
Love remembers and it forgets.
Love is innocent but very wise.
Love is brave but can make itself small.
Love is humble but has its own pride.
It praises but does not puff up falsely.
Love is selfless but soulful.
Love is passion but still present in the ordinary and mundane.
It is permanent but it changes everything.
It gives everything but can withold some.
Love tames and wildens.
Love is simple but difficult to practise.
Love holds on but knows how to let go.
Love can give flavour but it can have a sour taste.
Love is quality but renders quantity.
Love creates meaning from chaos,
and sees logic in mess.
Love unites broken fragments but can allow fragments to remain separate, broken, but whole.
Love can be silent but strong.
Love is holy but not self-righteous.
Love is raw but can be refined.
Love does not prevent pain.

Love is pure
Love is transparent.
It is genuine, truthful,
authentic and never false.
Love gives autonomy.
It  does not seek approval.
Love seeks truth
and does not fear.
Love is intentionally generous,
wholly meaningful,
and totally unbounded.

Love remains
Love is not always sweet, not always spicy.
But Love remains.
Love starts and completes.
Love never dies.
Love is presence,
commitment,
loyalty, fidelity,
sacrifice,
responsibility.
You can count on true love.
Love gives sustainable security and peace of mind.
Love tries. Love keeps on trying, and trying and puts more effort into trying again and again.
Love waits and keeps waiting with full of hope.
Love keeps hoping and
tries once again and again ad nauseum.
Love always sees possibility, keeps believing
and keeps seeing potential.
Love appreciates.
Love is never defeated but carries on
and pushes itself to keep moving forward.
Love endures all things.

Love is hospitable
It invites,
includes,
greets, welcomes, warms,
Love makes time.
It treats well, sometimes pampers.
Love surprises.
It is tolerant.
Love accepts.
It is gentle,
sweet,
considerate,
respectful,
sensitive,
kind.

Love changes
everything,
everyone.
With love, nothing stays the same.
It changes me, you, him, her.
Love conquers the heart
and true love changes us all.

Love is Divine
Love is sacred.
Love is almighty, infinite;
a spirit,
a force, a power,
with no end.
Love overflows with abundance.
It goes beyond space, time, cultures, beliefs.
Love has no limitations,
no boundaries whatsoever.
Love is supernatural, extraordinary.
Love is truth
and love is the way.
Love gives peace
and those who choose the way of love
are always winners in the end.

Love is all
If you have love, you have everything.
If you do not have love, you have nothing.

Deep love poem
What is love poem

Read more:
– Top Popes’ Quotes About Love

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Love Quote 1 – Jean Vanier

“To love someone does not mean first of all to do things for that person;
it means helping her to discover her own beauty, uniqueness,
the light hidden in her heart and the meaning of her life.”
Jean Vanier

Love Quote 2 – William W. Purkey

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.
William W. Purkey

Love Quote 3 – Mother Teresa

“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones,
the ones at home.
“Where there is no love, put some love.”
Mother Teresa

Love Quote 4 – The Trolls

“People make bad choices
if they’re mad, or scared, or stressed.
Throw a little love their way
and you’ll bring out their best,
True love brings out their best!
The Trolls in “Fixer-Upper , a song from the film FROZEN

Love Quote 5 – Amy Carmichael

“You can give without loving,
but you cannot love without giving.
Amy Carmichael

Love Quote 6 – The Little Prince

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
The Little Prince

Love Quote 7 – Oscar Romero

“Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world.”
Saint Oscar Romero

Love Quote 8 – Saint Bernard

“Do you want to be entirely available to everyone? Fine. I praise your generosity: as long as it is complete. If you exclude yourself, what generosity is it? Are not you a man too? If your generosity wants to be perfect, by embracing everyone, embrace yourself too.”

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1. Loving Oneself Is Necessary To Be Able To Love Others

“We have repeatedly said that to love another we must first love ourselves. Paul’s hymn to love, however, states that love “does not seek its own interest”, nor “seek what is its own”…  Loving ourselves is only important as a psychological prerequisite for being able to love others: “If a man is mean to himself, to whom will he be generous? No one is meaner than the man who is grudging to himself” (Sir 14:5-6).
Pope Francis, They Joy Of Love, 101

2. Love That Is Grounded In Truth Remains Strong

“Only to the extent that love is grounded in truth can it endure over time, can it transcend the passing moment and be sufficiently solid to sustain a shared journey.
Pope Francis, The light of faith, 27

3. Love Is Ecstasy 

“Love is indeed “ecstasy , not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God.
Pope Benedict 16th, God is Love, 6

4. Loving One’s Enemy Achieves Harmony

“The height of this love is to pray for one’s enemy. By so doing we achieve harmony with the providential love of God.
Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, 41

5. Love Goes Beyond Feeling

“Love is not merely a sentiment. Sentiments come and go… love is never “finished and complete; throughout life, it changes and matures, and thus remains faithful to itself.
Pope Benedict 16th, God is Love, 17

6. Love Is Possible Even In Prison

“If you can do something, a service for your companions in prison, do it. This is love. This is like washing feet: to be the servant of others.
Pope Francis, Maudy Thursday, 2017

Published: December 2018

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– Top Pope’s Human Dignity Quotes
– Loving Oneself The Christian Way

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