Saint Edith Stein on Love

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You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery;' but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. 'It was also said, 'Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,' but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery. 'Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,' but I tell you, don't swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one. 'You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'* But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you. 'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor,* and hate your enemy.*' But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.

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	Saint Edith Stein on Love

By św. Edyta Stein,
Love One Another! 9/2008 → The main topic

“Human love strives to keep the object of its affection for itself. A person who loves another as Jesus does, wishes that other to belong to God, not to himself. Of course, in this way, he ensures that he will keep his beloved forever. If we win a person for God, we are united together in God, whereas when we try to win another for ourselves, sooner or later we end up losing him.”

“Love is the freest of all things that exist. … The saints … who decide upon a heroic love of the enemy, experience the freedom of love. For a time human nature may resist, but it is powerless and cannot influence a decision driven by supernatural love. Most often it relents under the force of a superabundance of divine love that increasingly fills the soul. For love in its most supreme form is the surrendering of one’s life to the Beloved and being one with Him. When the soul does the will of God, she knows the Holy Spirit, Divine Life, God’s Love — that is, God Himself. For when the soul fulfills God’s will in the greatest sacrifice of the self, God’s Life becomes her inner life: by entering into herself, she finds God within.”

Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross, Finite and Eternal Being,

Poznan, 1995, p. 424)

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The above article was published with permission from Miłujcie się! in November 2010

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