“I await you who come to me with the light of faith burning in your soul, with charity aflame…” (Set Aside Every Fear)~ Catherine of Siena
There are some words in the English language that are changing so rapidly that their original intent is quickly becoming unrecognizable. I believe ‘charity’ is such a case, perhaps even the word love itself will soon follow it.
Below is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about charity aka love!
Charity
1822 Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.
1825 Christ died out of love for us, while we were still “enemies.”100 The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.101The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity: “charity is patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”102
Umm…so no where on here do we read of love being a feel good emotion for us to bestow on those who are like minded and can love us back.
I’ve written about my recent attraction to the Holy Face. It started with a novena to St. Veronica for photographers that I did a while back. I was captivated by how the Lord allowed her to capture His likeness in her veil. As a portrait photographer, this is something that has always intrigued me… how to capture someone’s true essence through my lens.
I believe that via this particular pedagogy, He is teaching me to grow in love for each person that He brings to me and to recognize Him, in them… even those that are ‘the farthest away’ and are still yet to discover their own worthiness as having been created in His image.
“Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”- 1 Peter 1:21
He’s also teaching me that as much as I’m being called and instructed on how to love and see Him in others, my faith and hope need to be on Him alone and He’s the one that makes true love possible.
