CHARITY, THE PURE LOVE OF CHRIST

Charity is one of the three theological virtues. The others are faith and hope. Charity is also one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE

“Perhaps we do not know what love is: it would not surprise me a great deal to learn this, for love consists, not in the extent of our happiness, but in the firmness of our determination to try to please God in everything.”

Often our concept of love comes from people we've known—parents, relatives, and friends who have both experienced and manifested an inadequate understanding of love. To break this chain of misunderstanding, we must come to know and encounter real love, God's love. Then we must become contagious carriers of real love to real people—those whom we encounter each day. Jesus, sent by the Father, revealed to us how much God loves us and showed us perfectly how to love others. Through meditation on Jesus' life and teachings and through communion with him, we allow ourselves to be loved by him. When we allow our minds and hearts to be transformed by his love, our anger, hurts, fear, and feelings of unworthiness will be dissolved in his unconditional love. We will then find ourselves becoming bearers of God's love to those around us.