Only Divine Love comes with us to heaven; human love ‘drops the ball’ on us because it remains in the world like all that is earthly. Our Lady in Medjugorje clearly shows the difference between the two ways of loving when she says: Dear children, may love reign in your families! Not human love, but divine love. What is the difference she is pointing to?
Dear children may love reign in your families! Not human love, but divine love
Human love is made of the natural attraction that one feels for a person, a feeling that seizes us – “I feel good with this person! He/she brings me a lot of joy, contentment, pleasure, and satisfaction. I am fulfilled because he/she loves me and clearly shows it to me. I feel like more of a person in his/her presence, more alive, I feel completely myself”, etc. But what is in fact at the center of that love? Me! It’s my own advantage, my own interest. I’m glad to receive it.
Do not think that this human love is a sin, this feeling is completely natural; it belongs to our human nature created by God. But very often, when left to its own devices and limitations, even its weaknesses and sinfulness, it has an expiration date! It may appear one day and disappear the way it came. Divine love is a love that gives itself, a self-sacrificial love for the other. It seeks the good of the other at all costs. Jesus gave us an example of this when he died for us on the cross, although we were sinners, in other words not so attractive in his eyes!
That is why day after day we will let God render divine this human love so that it may be transformed into a true divine Love, no longer centered on the self, but on the other. This Divine love will be our greatest passport to enter into heaven. This cannot be achieved overnight, it happens in stages. The Spirit of love is ready to work powerfully and he dreams to do so, to the extent that we let ourselves be led by it with docility.
St Therese Little Flower
St Therese Little Flower gives us here a magnificent example of this divine love, a hard-won victory over her natural feelings. Let’s listen to what she says…
“There is in the community a sister who has the faculty of displeasing me in everything. Not wishing to give in to the natural antipathy I was experiencing, I told myself that charity must not consist of feelings but in works; then I set myself to do for this sister what I would do for the person I loved the most. Each time I met her I prayed to God for her, offering Him all her virtues and merits.
I wasn’t content simply with praying very much for this sister who gave me so many struggles, but I took care to render her all the services possible, and when I was tempted to answer her back in a disagreeable manner, I was content with giving her my most friendly smile, and with changing the subject of the conversation.
Frequently, when I was not at recreation (I mean during the work periods) and had occasion to work with this sister, I used to run away like a deserter whenever my struggles became too violent. As she was absolutely unaware of my feelings for her, never did she suspect the motives for my conduct, and she remained convinced that her character was very pleasing to me. One day at recreation she asked me: “Sister Therese of the Child Jesus, what attracts you so much towards me? Every time you look at me, I see you smile!” Ah! What attracted me was Jesus hidden in the depths of her soul; Jesus who makes sweet what is most bitter.”
Consecration to the Holy Spirit
“Holy Spirit, love of the Father and the Son, receive the consecration of my entire being. Transform me by Mary, with Mary and in Mary into another Christ Jesus. Under the protection of St. Michael the Archangel, I abandon myself without reservation to your divine operations. Be my light in this time of darkness, be my strength at this time when the demon comes to weaken us, and be our guide to help us in our fight against the forces of evil. Inspire me with what I must do for the glory of the Father, for my own sanctification and the salvation of the world. Amen!”
Source: Use of text approved from “Children of Medjugorje” website www.childrenofmedjugorje.com.