What do you love?
When St. Thomas Aquinas talks about the effects of the passion, or emotion, of love, he talks about union being an effect of love (STh I-II Question 28). (This is distinct from the virtue of love, which is the "habitual and firm disposition to do the good"(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1803)). When what we love is present, we have “real union.” When it is absent, we have a “union of affection,” or what we might consider a certain contentment in thinking fondly of the person or thing we love which is absent.
When St. Thomas Aquinas talks about the effects of the passion, or emotion, of love, he talks about union being an effect of love (STh I-II Question 28). (This is distinct from the virtue of love, which is the "habitual and firm disposition to do the good"(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1803)). When what we love is present, we have “real union.” When it is absent, we have a “union of affection,” or what we might consider a certain contentment in thinking fondly of the person or thing we love which is absent.
It is helpful to think about how the passion of love can aid us in cooperating with the theological virtue of charity, which we receive at Baptism. The theological virtue of charity is when “we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.” (CCC, 1822)
When our emotion of love is properly ordered, it helps us to love those things which bring us true union with God and with our neighbors. In the Christian life, the greatest way to be united to God is through the sacramental life of the Church – we receive his Body and Blood in the Eucharist, his forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance and his healing in the Anointing of the Sick. These are places where we experience real union with the Lord, and through him with one another.
Perhaps in the coming weeks, we can consider – who or what do we love? Are we loving things that are worth having union with? For example, do we love our work, our status, food, pleasure, in a way in which we seek union there rather than in loving God above all else and our neighbor as ourselves?
As we seek to grow in union with the Lord, may the example of St. Paul spur us on. St. Paul preached the Gospel to many of the early Christian communities, and prioritized the message of the Gospel over any personal gain or interpretation. In Philippians 2:2, St. Paul exhorts the Christian community to be "like- minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
May we grow in one spirit and one mind through our participation in the sacraments, the true source of unity!
Whole & Holy is written by a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. The Sisters were founded in 1973 in the Diocese of Saginaw and are committed to providing comprehensive healthcare. The Sisters contributing to this column are trained in fields such as social work, psychiatry and social work. They strive to provide excellent healthcare through the professional training they receive and are sustained in their work through their common life of prayer.
