The quintessence of love is...(St. Faustina's words)

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. The quintessence of love is sacrifice and suffering. Truth wears a crown of thorns. Prayer involves the intellect, will and the emotions.

Such a brief entry made by St. Faustina into her “Diary”; yet how powerfully it touched me!. I looked up the word “quintessence” in the dictionary to be sure of its meaning; “quintessence” is: " the aspect of something regarded as the intrinsic ". I also checked the thesaurus for some synonyms and found: “Perfect example”, “epitome” and other words, but I knew I was grasping what she meant. Next I re-read 1 Cor 13 to read the beautiful description of love given to St. Paul for us.

It is no wonder that her second sentence gives a picture of Christ, crowned with thorns. And her third and last sentence encourages us to give ourselves to prayer. Prayer is our covenant relationship with God Who is Love. Without Him, we can do nothing. (cf Jn 15). We need to keep our eyes on Jesus who first loved us, if we are ever to learn how to return a sacrificial love to Him. If we are ever to be willing to suffer for Him because of love, we need to have the mind and heart of Christ which God alone can give us.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love.
Jesus, we trust in You!
Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
St. Faustina, pray for us.

 

[Hatikvah]

Well, I believe that here (though I am not a Catholic, and consequentially I do not see her “Diary” as relevant nor revelatory), the “sacrifice and suffering” mentioned as the quintessence of love relates to a verse spoken by Jesus:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13, KJV)

Clearly, we can relate the “sacrifice and suffering” in both that verse and in the “Diary” shows the very love of God in the atonement of Christ. It’s beautiful, though, and something that every Christian can relate to.

 

[MariaChristi]

Well, I believe that here (though I am not a Catholic, and consequentially I do not see her “Diary” as relevant nor revelatory), the “sacrifice and suffering” mentioned as the quintessence of love relates to a verse spoken by Jesus:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13, KJV)

Dear Hatikvah,

Good to hear from you again. I remember the first time you responded to one of my threads I needed to look up the meaning of your username “Hatikvah”. I knew it sounded familiar when I first saw it and found the words to Israel’s National Anthem. The words were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, an English poet originally from Bohemia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia. Cohen actually based the melody on a musical theme found in Bedrich Smetana’s “Moldau.”

HaTikvah (“The Hope”)

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,
Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Yes, I agree with you, all Christians can relate to Jesus’ words in the Gospel verse you posted from John’s Gospel and also can relate to St. Faustina’s words from her “Diary”. God is Love and since all human persons were created in His Image and likeness, we can all relate to the truth that Love requires sacrifice and suffering.

When we truly love God and others because of our love for God, then we can let go of our own selfishness that holds us back from truly giving ourselves. Thanks so much for your reply.

 

[Eric_Hyom]

When Jesus spent his time on Earth, he would have lived by the greatest commandments, he could do nothing greater. But how did Jesus love all his neighbours as he loved himself, those who crowned him with thorns and nailed him to the cross.

We know he prayed on the cross, forgive them Father. Could it be that forgiveness hangs and depends on the greatest commandments, nothing should stand in the way of us loving all our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Just as thought.

 

[Hatikvah]

Dear Hatikvah,

Good to hear from you again. I remember the first time you responded to one of my threads I needed to look up the meaning of your username “Hatikvah”. I knew it sounded familiar when I first saw it and found the words to Israel’s National Anthem. The words were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, an English poet originally from Bohemia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia. Cohen actually based the melody on a musical theme found in Bedrich Smetana’s “Moldau.”

Yes, I agree with you, all Christians can relate to Jesus’ words in the Gospel verse you posted from John’s Gospel and also can relate to St. Faustina’s words from her “Diary”. God is Love and since all human persons were created in His Image and likeness, we can all relate to the truth that Love requires sacrifice and suffering.

When we truly love God and others because of our love for God, then we can let go of our own selfishness that holds us back from truly giving ourselves. Thanks so much for your reply.

Thanks for noticing me?

I didn’t know what you said about the Israeli anthem, actually. I thought it was written by an Austro-Hungarian Jew, but apparently not!

God bless.

 

[MariaChristi]

When Jesus spent his time on Earth, he would have lived by the greatest commandments, he could do nothing greater. But how did Jesus love all his neighbours as he loved himself, those who crowned him with thorns and nailed him to the cross.

We know he prayed on the cross, forgive them Father. Could it be that forgiveness hangs and depends on the greatest commandments, nothing should stand in the way of us loving all our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Just as thought.

Dear Eric,

It seems to me, all of us need to remind ourselves, that Jesus is God Incarnate. When He assumed a human nature, He never stopped being the Divine Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Who is Love. This Union of His Human and Divine natures in One Divine Person is a great mystery, yet we believe this by the power His gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity given to us in Baptism.

The reason Jesus tells His disciples to “Love one another as I have loved you” is because He knows we can do this, by His Grace. We do not become God but by cooperating with His Grace, we can become more and more like Him as His adopted sons and daughters. We can see the “quitessence of love” in Jesus and Mary (as St. Faustina and all the saints learned to do) on Calvary.

You are right in emphasizing “forgiveness” especially. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we find in the section on the Our Father, more about the petition, “Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Paragraphs 2839 through 2843) and especially these words:

2840 - Now – and this is daunting – this outpouring of love cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who trespass against us…

By God’s Grace, we can forgive our enemies, and love them in Christ. St. Therese of Lisieux once said, “Everything depends on Grace”. God is ever inviting us into greater and greater union with Him, but we must will to say, “Yes” and cooperate with the gift of His Grace as Mary our Mother did, and as we also see in the lives of the saints. “Love is not cheap” but costs sacrifice and suffering, but with God, all things are possible (Luke 1:37) Thanks so much for your reply.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thanks for noticing me?

I didn’t know what you said about the Israeli anthem, actually. I thought it was written by an Austro-Hungarian Jew, but apparently not!

God bless.

Dear Hatikvah,

Ah – it is God’s Grace which reminds me of the importance of every child of His. Recently in the Gospel for daily Mass we heard Jesus say to us all :

…Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows…(Mt. 10:29-31) …

It reminded me of the song, “His Eye is on the Sparrow” so I looked up the lyrics:

"Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain:
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me"

Music lifts the human spirit. When I looked up the meaning of your username and found the National Anthem of Israel, those words moved me too. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I think St. Faustina was like a little sparrow – so humble and trusting! May we learn from Jesus, Meek and Humble of Heart, as our Mother Mary and as St. Faustina and all the saints learned from Him.