Live Holiness

The deepest longing of the human heart is to love and to be loved; and what’s so amazing is that no one needs to teach us this truth.  We know it innately.  Our hearts long for love and we want to love back.  But this longing to love and be loved often gets people into trouble because they try to fill that longing with things that simply can’t satisfy.  Think, for example, of people who live promiscuously.  They are, as the song says, looking for love in all the wrong places.  As they try to satisfy their longing for love, they are left empty.

On the other hand, each of us experiences blessed moments of authentic love that deeply touch our hearts.  Recall a moment when you experienced the tender sentiment that is the fruit of authentic human love.  Isn’t it true that as beautiful and sacred as that moment was, you were left desiring more?  I think, for example, of a recent time when I arrived at my sister’s house for a family dinner.  When I pulled into the driveway my three beautiful nieces and nephew were waiting to greet me.  As soon as I got out of the car they all ran up and hugged me.  I felt on top of the world.  It was just pure love.  I felt so blessed and my heart was filled with joy.  But as beautiful as that moment was, my heart knew that more love was possible.

Why do we know that more love is possible even when we experience authentic love?  Because God, who is love, created us.  As St. Augustine wrote, “our hearts are restless until they rest in [Him].”  The longing for love in our hearts is ultimately a longing for God who is love.

How is it possible to say that our longing for love is a longing for God?  A basic philosophical principle is that every desire we experience has a corresponding reality to fulfill that desire.  When we are thirsty, there is drink; when we are hungry, there is food.  No one needs to teach us that we’re hungry or thirsty; we simply know it.  If, then, we have this longing for love that is not even satisfied in human relationships, doesn’t this mean that there is a Love that can satisfy?  An Eternal Love?

The problem is that we all occasionally make the mistake of misdirecting our desire for love.  That’s called sin; and in the worst case, when it’s habitual, it’s called addiction.  When we attach our desire for God to something finite, and particularly to something harmful, we are left empty.

There is a way, however, to taste God’s eternal love in the here and now.  It is through prayer. When we open our hearts to God’s love in prayer, we experience a holy longing to be eternally united with the Lord.  When we open our hearts to receive His love, our capacity to love Him and others expands.

What’s the difference, you may ask, between the person who tries to satisfy their desire for love with things that can’t satisfy (alcohol, drugs, promiscuity) and the person who satisfies their desire for love by opening their heart to God?  Are not both people selfishly seeking to fulfill their desire for love?  I would say no.  The former seeks only to satisfy their cravings and is driven further into selfishness, while the latter seeks to know the Lord and is compelled to share that love with others.  Think of Mother Teresa.  As she opened her heart to the Lord it led her to give herself more completely to others.  When we receive God’s love we desire to share God’s love.

If you have never experienced a taste of God’s love in your prayer, it is possible.  The next time you pray, simply open your heart to the Lord’s infinite love.  The next time you pray, don’t do or say anything.  Just sit there and let Him love you.  In Jesus Christ we gaze upon the face of God.  Let the loving and merciful eyes of Christ penetrate your soul.  Let Him fill you with the love for which your heart longs.

Here’s a practical way to do this: Read and meditate on this verse from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (31:3).  The Lord says that to you—personally.  In fact, put your name at the beginning of that verse and hear that Lord speaking it to your heart over and over.  Let it sink in and fill your heart with the Eternal Love for which we all long.