Love That Satisfies

Description

In The Love That Satisfies, Christopher West draws from the Pope’s letter a series of insightful and inspiring reflections on the nature of eros, agape, and the relationship between the two. He shows that it is through recognizing and embracing the beauty of God s self-sacrificial love that a person is able to truly be satisfied. In uniting the love of God to the love of a spouse, the nuptial bond is fulfilled. Perhaps even more profound is the reality that God and the Bridegroom of the Church has a personal love for his Bride that may certainly be called eros (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, n. 9).

Pope Benedict builds on the legacy of Pope John Paul II, it is significant that the first encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI is dedicated to the topic God is Love. The Holy Father demonstrates that it is agape, the self-sacrificial love of God, that empowers romantic love, eros, with a life-giving and meaningful existence.

What does all of this mean? Greek culture had four words for four distinct types of love.

• Eros is our emotional desire to make a good part of our lives. We can have eros for objects and pleasures as well as people.
• Storgè is the kind of basic love that we have for all human beings. It is expressed as respect for the dignity of others.
• Philios is “brotherly love.” It’s the love that friends have for each other when they choose to treat each other as brothers (or sisters). It is expressed by choosing the good of the other before choosing your own good.
• Agapè means “the love of the gods.” For Christians, it refers to the love that Jesus showed us by giving Himself to us completely on the Cross. It is expressed by making ourselves a total gift to the other.

In this book, Christopher West follows the lead of Pope Benedict XVI by showing that Eros (which is sometimes seen as selfish or lustful) is not necessarily opposed to Agapè (total selflessness), but instead can be purified and perfected through grace.