Love: what is it

  Love requires sacrifice—within reason https://uscatholic.org/articles/202403/love-requires-sacrifice-within-reason/

 WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER- the mystery of God’s love-03-20-24 The truest freedom, from slavery of sin, flows from the Cross of Christ. We are freed from the slavery of sin by the Cross of Christ.  God placed the source of the liberation of the human person precisely there where Jesus allowed himself to be nailed, making himself a slave. This never ceases to amaze us: that the place where we are stripped of every freedom, that is, death, might become the source of freedom. But this is the mystery of God’s love! It is not easily understood, but rather  lived (…) Jesus achieves complete freedom by giving himself up to death; He knows that only in this way could he obtain life for everyone. (…) Freedom makes one free to the extent to which it transforms a person’s life and directs it toward the good. In order to be truly free, we not only need to know ourselves on the psychological level, but above all to practice truth in ourselves on a more profound level — and there, in our heart, open

 WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER-To love God -03-08-24 Today, therefore, let us take the example of this scribe. Let us repeat Jesus’ words, making them resound in us: “To love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength and my neighbour as myself”. And let us ask ourselves: does this commandment truly orient my life? Does this commandment resonate in my daily life? It would be good this evening, before going to sleep, to make an examination of conscience on this Word, to see if we have loved the Lord today and if we have done a little good to those we happened to meet. May every encounter bring about a little bit of good, a little bit of love that comes from this Word. May the Virgin Mary, in whom the Word of God was made flesh, teach us to welcome the living word of the Gospel in our hearts. (Angelus, 31 October 2021) Friday of the Third Week of Lent   https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day.html

  Gospel in Art: The greatest commandment is to love https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/49292

 WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER-love one another like he  loved us-03-06-24 Jesus makes us understand that religious rules are necessary, they are good, but they are only the beginning: to fulfil them, it is necessary to go beyond the letter and live their meaning. The commandments that God gave us should not be locked up in the airless vaults of formal observance; otherwise, we are limited to an exterior, detached religiosity, servants of “God the master” rather than children of “God the Father”. Jesus wants this: not to have the idea of serving a God who is master, but Father; and this is why it is necessary to go beyond the letter. God does not reason with calculations and tables; he loves us as one who is enamoured: not to the minimum, but to the maximum! He does not say, “I love you up to a certain point”. No, true love is never up to a certain point, and is never satisfied; love always goes beyond, it cannot do otherwise. The Lord showed us this by giving his life on the cross and forg

  Is Love a Feeling or a Choice? What the Catholic Church Teaches About True Love in Marriage https://www.churchpop.com/is-love-a-choice-or-a-feeling-what-the-catholic-church-teaches-about-true-love-in-relationships/