From the Editor’s Desk | David Cooley

In her Story of a Soul, St. Thérèse of Lisieux recounts a time when she struggled to understand her vocation within the Church. During prayer, she opened her Bible and read: “But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31). Continuing to read through the next chapter, she reflected on St. Paul’s analysis that even the most amazing talents people possess are nothing without love. In that moment, in her words, she discovered that “charity is the excellent way that leads most surely to God.”

St. Thérèse found peace and joy when she realized that her vocation was love, and that love was everything.

According to our Catholic faith, love is far more than a feeling or fleeting emotion. It is the very heart of Christian life and the foundation of all moral action. In St. John’s exclamation that  “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8), we discover the profound truth that love is not merely something God does, but who He is. To love, then, is to participate in the divine life.

In building up the kingdom of God on earth, we must recognize that everything we do must come from a place of love. We know that if we are going to transform our families and our communities for the better, we must adhere to the great commandment to love one another as the Lord has loved us.

Love is inseparable from truth. To love someone does not mean affirming everything he or she does or desires; rather, it means willing his or her authentic good. And Truth is ultimately a Person—Jesus Christ, who is the full expression of God the Father’s love for us. He is the foundation upon which we must build.

Only in Christ can we begin to understand what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus models for us a balance of love and truth, offering mercy without ignoring sin and offering compassion without compromising the call to conversion. 

Jesus teaches us what love truly is through the commandment He gave his disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34) and through His own perfect example. He does not reveal love abstractly, but through His self-gift on the Cross, commanding us to imitate Him on the path to discipleship, renewal, and eternal joy. 

We are called to practice love daily—in families, friendships, and communities—allowing God’s grace to transform human love into a reflection of His divine charity.

Returning to St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we find some of the most beautiful words ever written about true love:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Cor 13:4-8).

When St. Thérèse read these words, she realized that “we can’t all be apostles, prophets, doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot be the hand at one and the same time.”

Perhaps we can all take some comfort in that, too, and focus more of our energy on “the excellent way”—our vocation to love, which will joyfully lead us to our destination.