The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

The Rich Gift of Love

Authored by Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel in Issue #28.3 of The Sower
In the third part of this series, we continue our discussion of the Stages through which we grow in our way of loving. After looking at Stage I—where we learn how to love and be loved by our parents—we can see how our parents have truly been a blessing to us and also how they have failed us. In order to overcome these failures in love, the child must find its love in God, the perfect Father and parent, the one who loves us unconditionally, completely, and selflessly. Unless all wounds are healed, a pure development in love cannot take place. As we proceed through the next two stages, the reasons for this healing will become more evident. In Stage II, a friendship with a person of the same sex, boys learn the masculine soul’s way of loving and girls learn the feminine soul’s way of loving. It is important to note that the differences between male and female are both physical and spiritual. Masculinity or femininity is written within the very depths of the person’s soul. The friendships we build and sustain with a person of the same sex affirms and strengthens our masculine or feminine identity as well as our masculine or feminine way of loving. The following are the other significant developments that occur during Stage II.

The rest of this online article is available for current subscribers.

Start your subscription today!


This article is from The Sower and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of Maryvale Institute. Contact [email protected]

Articles from the Most Recent Issue

Editor’s Reflections: Eucharistic Communion and Seeing Those in Need
By Dr. James Pauley
Free The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that receiving the Eucharist “commits us to the poor” (1397). Why is this so? Receiving the Eucharist means that we enter into union with the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And being in Holy Communion with Jesus himself means something profound. Let’s consider one facet of this great mystery.... Read more
The Anawim and the Kerygma
By Colin and Aimee MacIver
Sarah: aged and barren. Joseph: rejected, betrayed, and enslaved. Moses: desperately cast afloat in a basket. Daniel: sent to death by lions. Mary: unknown, unmarried, unbelieved. Salvation history is the story of the poor ones, the bowed down, the lowly—the anawim , as they are named in Hebrew. In both the Old Testament and the New, God tends to... Read more
The Spiritual Life: Poverty, Purity of Heart, & Eucharistic Living
By Sr. Alicia Torres, FE
Free This article is part of a 3-year series dedicated to promoting the efforts of the National Eucharistic Revival in the United States. “The Body of Christ.” “Amen.” Each time we participate in Mass, we have the opportunity to encounter the Lord Jesus in the most intimate way through the reception of Holy Communion. This moment is the most practical... Read more

Pages

Watch Tutorial Videos

We've put together several quick and easy tutorial videos to show you how to use this website.

Watch Now