Thursday, November 10, 2016

Amoris Laetitia - Par. 102


102.  Saint Thomas Aquinas explains that "it is more proper to charity to desire to love than to desire to be loved",110 indeed, "mothers, who are those who love the most, seek to love more than to be loved".111  Consequently, love can transcend and overflow the demands of justice, "expecting nothing in return" (Lk 6:35), and the greatest of loves can lead to "laying down one's life" for another (cf. Jn 15:13).  Can such generosity, which enables us to give freely and fully, really be possible?  Yes, because it is demanded by the Gospel:  "You received without pay, give without pay" (Mt 10:8).

110 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 27, art. 1, ad 2.
111 Ibid., q.27, art. 1.

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