What does it mean to love something with the whole of my soul?

[catholic0913]

Hello,
In Catholic understanding, what does it mean to love someone with the whole of my soul?

If I love someone with all my soul, is it equivalent to saying that that the whole of my will, the whole of my intellect, and the whole of my emotion are being pulled towards that being in loving way?

If someone can confirm that the two are equivalent, it will be good.

Thank you,

 

[hazcompat]

Ascent of Mount Carmel

St. John of the Cross

Chapter V

1. Wherefore, it is supreme ignorance for the soul to think that it will be able to pass to this high estate of union with God if first it void not the desire of all things, natural and supernatural, which may hinder it, according as we shall explain hereafter; for there is the greatest possible distance between these things and that which comes to pass in this estate, which is naught else than transformation in God. For this reason Our Lord, when showing us this path, said through Saint Luke: Qui non renuntiat omnibus quae possidet, non potest meus esse discipulus. This signifies: He that renounces not all things that he possesses with his will cannot be My disciple. And this is evident; for the doctrine that the Son of God came to teach was contempt for all things, whereby a man might receive as a reward the Spirit of God in himself. For, as long as the soul rejects not all things, it has no capacity to receive the Spirit of God in pure transformation.

Peace

 

[John_Martin]

Love is the movement toward union with the beloved, and delight in the beloved so united.
If I love ice cream, love is my steps toward the store to buy it, laying out 5 dollars, and walking home with it. Delight is then the operation of satisfied love (union with the beloved) where I engage in consuming the beloved.

Emotions are movements of the lower appetite (not the will), and in the emotions, the proper term for what most would term “love” is actually “desire”.

To love God with my whole soul, whole heart (or will), whole mind (or intellect), etc., it is first necessary to have an understanding of what union with God “would be like” (just as I have an image in my imagination of what it would be like to be tasting ice cream).
And that image or understanding of what union with God would be like, must be understood as “very good”, ultimately good (or, “very desirable”, “ultimately desirable”).

Then it is necessary to understand or to know that union is a real possibility. This is made possible by “grace”; first in that our initial union with God happens in material reality - we meet Jesus (in person / in his Church), and find union materially with Him there (we ask to be joined to his Kingdom, and we are baptized). With this baptism we are given the Holy Spirit, infused with divine Virtue, and taught what we can now do with those virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. Now we have the understanding of the desirability of union with God, and we actually have the union - the Holy Spirit with us, and we have the new nature of virtue, where we are able to delight in the union; we are able to do the things we do virtuously, rather than moving wherever appetite might move us at any given moment (they move us toward union with wealth, pleasure, honor, power). Whereas with single hearted love of God, you use the Virtues you have as you do things in the world, you do all your doings virtuously, and “in delight” because you are one with your beloved, you are united right now.

 

[JuanFlorencio]

Ascent of Mount Carmel

St. John of the Cross

Chapter V

1. Wherefore, it is supreme ignorance for the soul to think that it will be able to pass to this high estate of union with God if first it void not the desire of all things, natural and supernatural, which may hinder it, according as we shall explain hereafter; for there is the greatest possible distance between these things and that which comes to pass in this estate, which is naught else than transformation in God. For this reason Our Lord, when showing us this path, said through Saint Luke: Qui non renuntiat omnibus quae possidet, non potest meus esse discipulus. This signifies: He that renounces not all things that he possesses with his will cannot be My disciple. And this is evident; for the doctrine that the Son of God came to teach was contempt for all things, whereby a man might receive as a reward the Spirit of God in himself. For, as long as the soul rejects not all things, it has no capacity to receive the Spirit of God in pure transformation.

Peace

And, according to St. John, is this renouncing something that we can do entirely by ourselves, or is it God who transforms us? What is the part that we can do, according to his teachings, Hazcompat?

 

[Robert_Sock]

Loving God with our whole heart probably has its roots in Orthodox Judaism where it is believed that we have two souls: An animal soul and a divine soul. Loving God with all our soul probably arises from loving God with both of our souls.