Before we study those virtues, first it is worth of noting that there are no people without faith. Some people would say that they are not going to live based on faith (which they recognize as something related to a religion) but rather on knowledge or science, which was examined and studied and confirmed. Everyone is free and can make such a statement. Faith, however, is what we live on constantly regardless of what our reason is. We cannot live without faith; we cannot have a good relationship with others without faith. We all need faith and we all believe. We believe in different things, but we all believe.
Knowledge/science is good for mathematics, a house building, car industry, city structure, water systems, natural gas lines, etc. Knowledge, however, is not strong enough to build and deal with the relationship between people. We study human behaviors, but at the end of the day life is not about knowledge but faith.
There is no knowledge that explains the sense of life, relationships between parents and children, love between man and woman, or friendship, etc. Those realities cannot be measured by science simply because they are based on something much deeper. We believe all the time and we share it with others without even knowing it.
For example: When we start eating our breakfast and put some cheese on a piece of bread, we believe (even though we are not aware of it) that the product is good and there is no poison in it. We do not question that at all. Theoretically, however, it could have been poisoned. We do not have any knowledge about the product, apart from what we find written on it. Yet we believe or trust that it is good to eat. Think: when we get on a plane or on a bus, we believe that the pilot or the driver is well trained, and we do not question that, even though we have no knowledge about it at all.
If someone is sharing with us something of his life, it is our faith that determines what is happening and whether the person is honest with us or not. There is no knowledge which can confirm who we are, where we come from or that I am the child of God. Science will not give us an answer whether our life has any sense or not. Questions about love will not be supported by any scientifical knowledge. Faith must be present.
We see the human person, but we do not see God. In another person, however, we are to be able to see God. If we do not see God in another person, then we are quite “poor”. At certain moment St. Agustine, still before his conversion was questioning St. Ambrose about God, whom we cannot see. And St. Ambrose responded to that question stating that we do not see love either. Yet it can “produce” another human being whom we can see quite well.
If a girl falls in love and if she thinks that what she can see is the most important: words, gestures, deeds, and behavior, then she knows very little. What is the most important is often invisible for the eyes. We do not see love, conscience, sensitivity of heart, truthfulness, hierarchy of values, etc, yet we believe that a person we fell in love with has such qualities.
The life of the human person is complicated on this earth. Often, we ask many questions regarding our own identity, or about our own destination or where do I come from? Without faith we will not be able to be truly happy in this life. But we also need hope.
Hope is the second of the theological virtues. We need hope in our life in the same as we need faith. We all want to be happy in this life. We tirelessly look for happiness in this life. To be unhappy it does not mean to suffer and face challenges every day. But if we do not feel the joy of life, then we are unhappy. From one side we constantly look for happiness. From the other side we are being challenged all the time.
There are two biblical examples: Joseph from the Old Testament, as a young man who loved the Lord and was loved by his father, was hated by his brothers due to their jealousy. His brothers sold him thinking that they will get rid of their problem. But he was able to manage even though he was in the situation that was very difficult. He experienced lots of evil and hatred from his own family, yet God had a plan.
The prodigal son can be another example. He hurts principally himself by being naïve. He thought that money is what you need to be happy. We are sometimes the enemies to ourselves in our own life. Therefore, we need hope. Experiencing challenges of life, school, job, family duties, without hope could really put us down.
What is love and how to love others? How does God love you and me? Sometimes we think that if I am good God loves me. If I am not good, He does not love. But it is not a Christian way of thinking. God loves every one of us for nothing. God will never stop loving us and nothing can change His will. He loves us not from far away from heaven, but He is right beside us and He Himself shows His love towards us in Jesus Christ, who was born in the human flesh. More, God is right in me.
Love which is not shown does not exist. God loves us in the visible way – Jesus and the cross, blessings, etc. God loves us more than the life of His Son, the Son loves and will not stop loving us either. After being crucified – out of love – He comes back risen just to confirm His love and again he remains very close to us: in the Eucharist, in the communion, in the community.
God loves us wisely: He supports us when we do something good, carries us when we do not have strength to move forward, and He corrects us when we lose the way. Moreover, He teaches us to protect our lives from those who hurts us, and to trust those who love most – like Peter – feed my sheep.
Human love must connect us to the love of God. There is no other love than God’s love. We can either learn how to love from God as Jesus tells us “Love one another as I have loved you” or we will hurt ourselves and others in the name of love which does not exist. We will stop loving or we will call love what is not love.
What is love between people and how to love? To love yourself and another person means to live in such a way that others have a desire to live within me. And vice-versa, I have in myself a desire to live with you because I feel your love. I treat myself and yourself with dignity, but I also keep a certain standard, which means that I imitate the love of Jesus towards me.
Jesus loves me in a responsible and a smart/wise way. He wants me to be a person who loves as well. To love others means to treat them in a similar way: to have such a gentle approach towards others (spouse for example) in which I would always look for truth and do it in such a way that the other/s would have a desire to live by our side.
What does it mean that a husband loves his wife? It means that he treats her in such a way, that she wants to live by his side in every situation and throughout the whole life. After the original sin in a certain way, we turned the life on this earth into a valley of darkness. Some people really do not want to live a happy life. Others try to run away and still others manipulate to keep their spouse by their side.
Another definition of love would be to treat another person as the treasure and the other person can feel that he/she is a treasure. Then I become a haven or a safe (a still box we keep money in) to protect you. The regular treasure is protected by steel safes which separate the treasures from the world.
But when I love and treat you as a treasure, and if I become a haven or a safe for you, then I do not separate you from the world as regular money safes but I support you in your life through a good word, advice or sometimes correction knowing that you will manage to face the world and to fight it.
I do not need to isolate you from the world, but through my love, I make you strong in such a way that you will manage his/her life, overcoming the problems of the world, and his/her own weaknesses. Nobody will destroy such a person because my love and support are so strong. The world is afraid of people who love and are loved. If they do not love and are not loved then they become afraid of the world (cf. M. Dziewiecki).
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