Reject the False Father & Live the Reality of God's Love (1 of 2)
Controlling others, seeking to please others, indifference towards others, & lust are all terrible lies about love. They are counterfeit forms of love inspired by the false father, the Devil.
As a slave of lust, for example, one twists & subverts love so that the "loving gift of self" intended by God in the marital embrace - a beautiful gift so amazing that it cooperates in the creation of an entirely new human person created in God's image & likeness! - is changed into a wicked weapon that diminishes human dignity: not just the other person's, but
above all his or her *own* dignity! (The Enemy sickly delights in our sins - since he cannot attack God directly, he mocks God's image in His children.)
A victimized person may be innocent of others' sins, & thus even without repentance retains all full dignity in tact (though forgiveness, however difficult, is absolutely necessary for inner freedom & peace). An assailant, on the other hand, must willingly undergo true repentance &
conversion of heart & life, or else risks serious & everlasting damage to his or her own soul.
So where can healing begin for us in this vicious cycle of hurt & pain? Perhaps in realizing that I am NOT the sum of my sins or wounds. Neither am I entirely innocent of failing to love others as they deserve & as Christ commands.
Ultimately, God, Our Real Father, loves me with an Everlasting Love. He sent His Son Jesus as a Victim of Love to redeem me from all my sins. Thus each moment, by His grace, I can begin believing again in God's All-Sufficient Love for me & live in the full freedom & dignity of His beloved children.
+Br. Philip Maria Allen, CFR
St. Felix Friary
Yonkers, NY, USA