“I am pleased to believe in your beauty. I believe that you alone are the object of my love, that is, you alone for me are worthy of love; all the beauty together which could be represented to the senses is no more than a shadow that disperses at your presence. I believe this, and it is the greatest happiness for me to know that you exist and to believe that you are what I desire you to be (…) But in spite of my belief, I must confess that I doubt your love for me (…) What is there in me worthy of your love?” (Fr. Palau, My Relationships 21,7)

Desire and longing for happiness in human heart is closely related to the longing for love: to love and to be loved are written in human hearts since the moment of our birth. Our hearts have been made by God’s hand to love and be loved, and to live only through love (Cf. MR 22,13). For this love to satisfy all our desires, it must be a kind of love in which we are corresponded; love that pretends to last forever; love that we can rely on. It is a kind of spousal love that bonds two existences for better or worst. Palau found this kind of love when he felt encountered by the Church. To know that She exists, that She loves him, was for him the source of the greatest happiness.

We all long for this kind of love: to find out that the one who we dream of and who we desire to be just perfect, really exists, is waiting to begin a relationship with us, desires to convince us of his love in spite of our doubts and feelings of unworthiness. And who is “he”? It’s Christ, the Head of the Body, the Church. It’s enough to believe He exists to find true happiness.

Invitation for silence:

Palau was inviting the sisters to imagine Jesus as the most wonderful, beautiful, perfect object of their affections. Take your time, use your imagination, and present Him in your heart the way your heart desires Him to be.

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