Charity

ONE

We've been meditating on faith and hope. Now we meditate on charity.

So how would you define love? It's not easy. We used love in a lot of different ways, and it's not always easy to see what they all have in common.

Here's the definition of love: Love is to want some good for yourself and some good for others.

That means there are two ways to love. You can love by wanting some good for yourself. Phrases like, I love pizza, I love summer, I love the Kansas City Chiefs, or, I love being in a romantic relationship all describe this first kind of love.

It's a self-directed love, which is fine, but then there's the other kind of love which is deeper and is often more difficult. That's the love of wanting some good for another person.

So for example, if I were to say I love my kids and I'd do anything for them, it would indicate that what I desire for them is good and happiness.

Examples of this second kind of love are the way all parents are supposed to love their children, the way Mother Teresa loved the poor, or the way we should love our enemies. It refers to a willingness to work for someone else's good. This is the love we encounter in the theological virtue of charity.

It's a love of God. But it's also a love for God. It's where we love God for His sake, for His good, and not just for what we get out of it.