Love - Agape and Eros

[BarbaraTherese]

With the Holy Father about to release on 25.1.06 his first encyclical and on the subject of love, I thought there may be some interest in the following article from Catholic Culture on Love: agape and eros.

catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=6565

The following is only a small section of the full text of the article:

…Traditional Catholic teaching distinguishes between “natural” love and “supernatural” love, indicating clearly that the latter is much superior to the former. The former is called eros, the latter agape. Our aim is to compare these. Eros played an important role in pagan literature. Plato’s Symposium is dedicated to an analysis of eros. The greatness of love is eulogized in Orpheus and Euridice, Cupid and Psyche. Christian literature usually refers to natural loves, such as the love between spouses, love for one’s children, love for one’s parents, love between siblings, love between friends. Agape, that is supernatural love, is limited to love of God and love of neighbor.
In the modest frame of this article, I shall limit myself to discussing eros, the love that can exist between man and woman, and agape, the distinctly Christian love of neighbor…

 

[ncjohn]

Excellent article Barb. I went into it a little afraid that this was going to be another treatise bashing “erotic love” but was pleased to see how it handled it in its true form.

Surprisingly, the part the caught my attention the most was only peripherally related, occuring the section dealing with self love:

The secretary of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux described him for us this way: the saint was “First for himself, and thus everything for all.” Souls have threatened their salvation by being so absorbed in their apostolate that they totally neglected their own prayer life. They tried to save others while starving themselves spiritually. This is why St. Bernard tells us that we should not be like pipes through which the water keeps flowing. We should be like cisterns that are filled to the brim and then overflow.

I have personally taken on an apostalate of bringing peace to those around me, both physcically and “virtually”. I have to admit though that at times I get so caught up in that–especially the “addiction” to forum posting! --that I have a tendency to neglect my prayer life. Even though much of what I post is in response to spiritual meditation on passages like this–quite often ones that you’ve brought to my attention --they don’t substitute for that separate union from time spent conciously with God.

Thanks for another prompt to make me ponder Barb. You are a constant help in keeping me focused on the journey.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

ncjohn:

…edited for space…

Surprisingly, the part the caught my attention the most was only peripherally related, occuring the section dealing with self love:

The secretary of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux described him for us this way: the saint was “First for himself, and thus everything for all.” Souls have threatened their salvation by being so absorbed in their apostolate that they totally neglected their own prayer life. They tried to save others while starving themselves spiritually. This is why St. Bernard tells us that we should not be like pipes through which the water keeps flowing. We should be like cisterns that are filled to the brim and then overflow.

I have personally taken on an apostalate of bringing peace to those around me, both physcically and “virtually”. I have to admit though that at times I get so caught up in that–especially the “addiction” to forum posting! --that I have a tendency to neglect my prayer life. …edited for space…

Hi there John…when I first discovered the internet and CAF - my first Catholic Discussion site, I was thoroughly addicted for many many hours for a very very long time. I told myself I was addicted, but could not break the long hours…just one more Post or thread I kept saying to myself and since I have a tendancy to obsessive compulsiveness I soon realized the danger I was getting into as more and more duties in my life were sacrificed for just one more Post or thread. I eventually did break the addiction, by putting on a timer and resolving that when it rang came heck or high water I would leave the computer alone.
Having spent time in a strict contemplative monastery, I have learnt to modify many if not almost all of the customs to fit into my currently lifestyle, which I see as one of the benefits of having spent time in a monastery…who knows, perhaps why God led me there and out again in the first place. In monastic life, when the bell rings, one obeys instantly as God’s Will calling one.

Nowadays my time is more rational and spaced and allotted to allow space for all the duties that may call. I THINK I have it in control.
But you have made an excellent point about prayer and our apostolates…we can tend to think that all depends on our efforts, forgetting that The Lord’s is the increase and that five minutes ardent prayer about our apostolate from the heart is worth five hours on the job.
We have ‘spoken’ about balance before huh?..and it is to me a constantly challenging matter.
*
This is why St. Bernard tells us that we should not be like pipes through which the water keeps flowing. We should be like cisterns that are filled to the brim and then overflow.

…thanks for that John!

Peace…Barb
I am looking forward to Pope benedict’s first encyclical. Traditionally the first sets the pace for the ‘new’ pope’s entire papacy. *