Some Of The Best Quotes From 'The Joy Of Love'
The following are some of our favorite quotes from Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation, The Joy Of Love (Amoris Laetitia), released in April 2016. You can read the full text here.
A love that fails to grow is at risk. Growth can only occur if we respond to God's grace through constant acts of love, acts of kindness that become ever more frequent, intense, generous, tender and cheerful. (134)
Love makes us rise above ourselves, envy closes us in on ourselves. (97)
Love does not have to be perfect for us to value it. (113)
To love one another we must first love ourselves. (101)
(On marriage) The love they pledge is greater than any emotion, feeling or state of mind, although it may include all of these. It is a deeper love, a lifelong decision of the heart. Even amid unresolved conflicts and confused emotional situations, they daily reaffirm their decision to love, to belong to one another, to share their lives and to continue loving and forgiving. (163)
Indeed, the deeper love is, the more it calls for respect for the other's freedom and the ability to wait until the other opens the door to his or her heart. (99)
The value of virginity lies in its symbolizing a love that has no need to possess the other; in this way it reflects the freedom of the Kingdom of Heaven. (161)
To believe that we are good simply because 'we feel good' is a tremendous illusion. (145)
(On marriage) Neither of the spouses will be alone in facing whatever challenges come their way. Both are called to respond to God's gift with commitment, creativity, perseverance and daily effort. They can always invoke the assistance of the Holy Spirit who consecrated their union, so that his grace may be felt in every new situation they encounter. (74)
The family is the sanctuary of life, the place where life is conceived and cared for. (83)
Yet what really makes us important is a love that understands, shows concern, and embraces the weak. (97)
(On marriage) It manifests the seriousness of each person's identification with the other and their firm decision to leave adolescent individualism behind and to belong to one another. Marriage is a means of expressing that we have truly left the security of the home in which we grew up in order to building other strong ties and to take on a new responsibility for another person. (131)
Our first reaction when we are annoyed should be one of heartfelt blessing, asking God to bless, free, and heal that person. (104)
The unitive end of marriage is a constant summons to make this love grow and deepen. (88)
We need to find the right language, arguments and forms of witness that can help us reach the hearts of young people, appealing to their capacity for generosity, commitment, love and even heroism, and in this way inviting them to take up the challenge of marriage with enthusiasm and courage. (42)