English
EspañolOne learns to love by loving. Whom? The specific people that surround us. When? Here and now. Where? In the concrete situations and circumstances of our life. To what end? To discover the greatness hidden in ordinary everyday life.
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“First, because it represents an invitation to Christian families to value the gifts of marriage and the family and to persevere in a love strengthened by the virtues of generosity, commitment, fidelity, and patience. Second, because it seeks to encourage everyone to be a sign of mercy and closeness wherever family life remains imperfect or lacks peace and joy.” (The Joy of Love, n.5)
Commentary
This expression synthesizes two main intentions that Pope Francis has in “The Joy of Love,” intentions that arise, as they should, from the act of loving in itself:
i) to stir up a fire and recall the values rooted in married life, and ii) to encourage understanding, as well as compassion in the face or realities where pain and dishonesty are present.
One learns to love by loving, which implies giving and embracing other people acknowledging their uniqueness and never-ending dignity as human beings.
Only then can love unveil its self-giving nature, its humanity, and kindness without limits. Who truly loves gives himself authentically. The experience of loving catechizes him, moves and transforms him into a generous being instead of stingy and miserable, into a faithful person instead of selfish and inconsistent, and into someone patient instead of irritable, dominant, or impulsive. By loving each other, spouses and other family members discover and value what unites them and make every necessary effort to avoid losing it.
Embracing others entails its own. While carrying it out, mercy can emerge proximity, sincerity, and closeness accompanied by humble and generous help to improve situations in which the harmony and joy of loving each other have been impoverished. The amount of peace that reaches one of the members of these families will be a spark that ignites a fire that manifests in goods and services.
As time goes by, while ageing, we reaffirm the supreme value of love and its unrestricted purpose above other goods. We mature and distinguishing between the most essential and superfluous things is simpler. People are worthy and deserving of our love; fortunately, life always gives us opportunities to expand our hearts and the quality of our affections.
