When the love of Jesus draws forth the best in us the lower appetites go into recession. It is not that we conquer them; they simply lose their capacity to charm us. . .. A devotional life that coexists with an unchallenged concern for personal comfort and advancement is likely to be spurious. The measures of love’s authenticity are stern. They include the following:
- detachment from material resources and advantages
- capacity to endure or embrace pain happily — patience (Jn 7:35-42),
- ruthless self-honesty and progressive openness to direction (Jn 7:44-48),
- determination to hide its virtue from public sight (Jn 4:62)
- generosity in serving others, and
- conscious union with the Church.
Michael Casey, OSCO
Strangers in the City, p. 49.
