IT IS BETTER TO HAVE LOVED, NEVER TO HAVE LOVED AT ALL

"It is better to have loved than never to have loved at all" ~ St. Augustine



In our world today, love is so confused. The true meaning of that enduring and sacrificial love is so beautiful and it is right there in each of our hearts...right there for the taking. We all have the potential to fall in love. We were all created to love.

I believe that the only way you can truly love, is to give your heart completely to Jesus and allow him to do with you and mold you as He wills. He will always love you and never forsaken you. Its truly beautiful and the joy and peace He will fill you with, is truly amazing and fufilling. When you fall, it is God who will pick you up and give you hope.

What will make you special? What will make you and your love stand out from everyone else? The answer lies in Jesus Christ. His life in you will show and it will draw what is good to you. They will know we are Christians by our love. So love. Love. Love. Love. And if you get hurt along the way, surrender to God. Nothing comes without a cost.

Smile, laugh, be joyful, live without regret, give life your all, live like your dying and remember that He is waiting for you in Heaven, arms open wide. Abandon everything to Him. His love will be intoxicating and it will wash over you.

"Come, let us fly to that love which calls us. Why are we waiting? Let us set out at once, lose ourselves in the very heart of God and become intoxicated with his love. ..there we will learn how to win His kiss and ascend with confidence to the steps of the nuptial couch and learn there the divine secrets of love - divine secrets which muist not be revealed and which no human tongue can describe. Let us love, for love will give us everything." - Jean - Pierre De Caussade



Is that not the most beautiful description of God's love? Those words move me to the depths of my soul. I will place my broken heart in His hands and I have complete faith that He will not only make it completely whole, but bring true love to life again within it.



"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being in love which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

In our world today, it is so hard to stay pure and chaste. It is so worth it though. The reward is greater than any moment of pleasure. It is an everlasting bliss in Eternal Life with our Savior! So why not fight for that!!! Is'nt it worth fighting for? We all learn by trial and arror and none of us are perfect. When we fail we must get up and move onward like the soldiers of Christ that we are. Even God's faithful and loved servant David fell into the greatest of sin. The quality that made David so great was that he kept getting up and asking forgiveness of His father and paying the price for his sins. Ultimately, true happiness is our goal and the only way we can obtain it is through unselflish and pure love. Here are some beautiful quotes about purity which I thought were absolutely beautiful and inspiring!

"Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love."
- Pope John Paul II

"Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring. But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness."
- Pope John Paul II

"Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure . . . a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan."
- Pope John Paul II

"[God] has assigned as a duty to every man the dignity of every woman."
- Pope John Paul II

"To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something as beautiful for him."
- Blessed Mother Teresa

"'Purity?' they ask. And they smile. They are the ones who go on to marriage with worn-out bodies and disillusioned souls."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

"By Lust I mean that affection of the mind that aims at the enjoyment of one's self and one's neighbor without reference to God."
- St. Augustine

"There is need for a crusade of manliness and purity to counteract and nullify the savage work of those who think man is a beast. And that crusade is your work."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

"Many live like angels in the middle of the world. You, … why not you?"
- St. Josemaria Escriva

"When you decide firmly to lead a clean life, chastity will not be a burden on you: it will be a crown of triumph."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

"When you have sought the company of a sensual satisfaction, what loneliness afterward!"
- St. Josemaria Escriva

My two favorites are:

"To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thornbush, Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond . . . You . . . what have you done?"
- St. Josemaria Escriva

"Don't say, 'That's the way I am-its my character.' It's your lack of character. Esto vir!-Be a man!"
- St. Josemaria Escriva

I also read some really good article by Jason Evertt who is a youth speaker on chastity.

"To begin with, sexual attraction toward each other has been stamped into your heart by God not by the devil. There is nothing sinful about being sexually attracted to a someone. It is normal and healthy. Do not feel guilty about sexual attraction because it is not the same thing as lust. Just because you have strong desires, this does not mean that you are impure.

Lust is a different matter because it is a conscious act of the will to allow your mind to imagine illicit sexual acts. Lust treats the person as an object—a thing to be used for your pleasure. Therefore it is a distortion of love, and it will never satisfy.

Jesus wants us to have the fullness of love and not sell ourselves short with lust. So he warned us that whoever looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:28). By saying this, Jesus is not condemning us but is calling us. Work as Saint Paul did to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

In regard to what to do with tempting thoughts, I recommend what I have recommended elsewhere: If you have impure magazines, videos, and music, get rid of them. Become a man or woman of prayer. Be patient with yourself. Impure thoughts are bound to come. Take it one day at a time, one minute at a time, and one thought at a time. Do not get overwhelmed. Purity of heart does not mean that you are never tempted and that you cease to be sexually attracted to others. Some people even think that they are pure just because they do not have strong desires. Purity is an act of the will to love, not the absence of sexual desire."

In speaking to young men, he said,

"One way to grow in purity is to be grateful for the beauty of women. Lust and true gratitude cannot coexist. So when you see an attractive woman, instead of thinking of her as a mere temptation, give thanks to God for making women so amazing. You could pray the words of Psalm 84, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Mighty God!" How fitting, since every woman is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place of God.

All beauty comes from God. Therefore, allow the beauty of every woman to remind you of the infinitely greater beauty that awaits you in heaven if you persevere in faith. By doing this you turn your heart toward God when you otherwise may be tempted to turn away from him. Now, I’m not recommending you gawk at a woman and offer a twenty minute prayer of thanksgiving, or you seek out gorgeous women for the sake of having more reasons to be thankful. Rather, be grateful for a woman’s beauty when you notice it, and then move on.

All that God asks is that you be faithful to him as he reveals himself to you in the present moment. He loves you and will give you the grace you need to maintain your purity. As you grow in control over your mind, you will have greater control over your body. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

The point is we all need to look at purity as a gift from God and it is that special gift which we will give away, freely, to our spouces one day, or Jesus Christ in religious chastity. Either way it is a gift which our Father has given to us to give to the one whom has chosen for us.

"Don't be such as coward as to be 'brave.' Flee!"
- St. Josemaria Escriva

me goofing off