How can you tell it is true love? Pope Francis explored this topic during his daily Mass at Casa Santa Marta this morning.
Reflecting on today’s Gospel when Jesus ‘asks us to remain in his love,’ the Argentine Pontiff said, “There are two criteria that will help us to distinguish the true from the not-true love.”
The first criterion is that love is “more in deeds than in words,” he said, noting it is not “a saga of love”, “a fantasy,” or that which “make our hearts beat a little, but nothing more.”
“In other words, true love is real,” Francis said. “It is in the works, and is a constant love. It is not a simple enthusiasm. Also, many times it is a painful love: the love we think of in Jesus carrying the cross.”
Works of love, the Jesuit Pope went on to stress, must be concrete, as Jesus taught us in the Chapter 25 of St. Matthew. “I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and so on. Concreteness.”
The second criterion of love, the Pope said, is that it “communicates” and “does not remain isolated.” He pointed out the love and selfless giving and receiving between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
“There is no love without communicating,” he said, “There is no isolated love.”
“For those who may wonder, ‘But Father, monks and nuns are isolated,'” he said, it is different because they do communicate, especially with the Lord, and they are not selfish, closed in on themselves, seeking their own profit.
To remain in the love of Jesus, the Pope said, requires deeds and communication. Though it is simple, he said, it is not easy because “selfishness, self-interest attracts us.”
