The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Need to Know

If you think about it, the most meaningful and rewarding experiences of life have to do with love.   Falling in love, marriage and marital intimacy, the birth of a child, all rank among the most deeply moving and fulfilling moments of our lives.  All of our most meaningful relationships are characterized by feelings of love and joy that we experience nowhere else.   I believe the reason for this is that, at the core of our existence, we ourselves are not only the product of love, but the embodiment of it as well.  We were conceived from the physical expression of love by our parents, and God, who is Love, created us and all that exists, out of His Love which is the life force or energy that created all existence, including our bodies, souls and spirits. 

Of course these intense experiences of love cannot be sustained at a high level throughout our lives.  Too often we become so preoccupied by the activities of daily living that we fail to recognize the existence and manifestation of Love all around us.  Since all love is about relationships, when we look inward and concern ourselves with our personal needs and desires, love can be all but forgotten.   Over time, if we stifle the mystery of love in our relationship with other people, all reality becomes a game of give and take.  If we begin to live primarily for ourselves, we inadvertently shut out others, or simply neglect relationships which then drift apart. 

So here it is, the most important thing you’ll ever need to know:  Each one of us is the embodiment of God’s love, and so is every other person God created. This is why the Catholic Church teaches that every human life is sacred and deserves the utmost respect, from the moment of conception until natural death.   If we can remember this and always be aware that every other person is also the embodiment of God’s love, our life will be rich with meaning, and far more fulfilling than if we go through life under the haze of impartiality that can dampen or destroy the mystery and joy of life.  To fully appreciate and enjoy life, we must cultivate love and practice it by living not only for ourselves but for others.  This is the great mystery of life, as revealed to us by God, who not only became one of us, but died for us in order to demonstrate that dying is not the end of life, but the beginning of eternal life in the Spirit. 

The Pascal Mystery of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection reveals the depth of God’s love and shows us the path to the fullness of life, not just human life, but life in the Spirit.  This is the message of Easter; this is the reason for our Joy.  Jesus has saved us from ourselves by conquering sin and death.  He demonstrated once and for all that we have been created for much more than this life alone.  We have been created to live in unity with God for all eternity.