Only with difficulty will we reach the proposed goals if we are not enthused in some way about what we are walking towards. True enthusiasm does not vanish in the face of difficulties; rather it matures and is strengthened. Enthusiasm with these characteristics is born in the person’s interior and is expressed in different ways through their behaviour and actions. This is the type of enthusiasm which sinks its roots in the experience of God’s love. It turns into fire within the person’s heart and makes them able to radiate the heat which they carry within and break the ice of indifference or exclusion which grips many in today’s society.
Anyone who has felt deeply loved has no fear of allowing love to determine the course of their life. The experience of God’s love is at the base of all Christian commitments. Otherwise it would be nothing more than a strategy to increase the power base of an institution, even if this were the Church. Therefore he ‘desires’ and ‘strives’, never ‘imposes’. True love is the love which allows the other the freedom to welcome it or not, the love which finds its meaning in giving and self-giving because it has learned from Him who always loves freely and unconditionally.
Around the fire of love, family and friends are reunited in search of the warmth which prepares one to live every stage of life meaningfully. God is love. Therefore, his presence always creates spaces of freedom and enables one to love. He who is ‘on fire with love’ is not afraid to love, rather, he feels called to share this love which has been freely offered to him.