Lumen Fidei - page 34

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would not consider love as related in any way to
truth. Love is seen as an experience associated
with the world of fleeting emotions, no longer
with truth.
But is this an adequate description of love?
Love cannot be reduced to an ephemeral emo-
tion. True, it engages our affectivity, but in order
to open it to the beloved and thus to blaze a trail
leading away from self-centredness and towards
another person, in order to build a lasting rela-
tionship; love aims at union with the beloved.
Here we begin to see how love requires truth.
Only to the extent that love is grounded in truth
can it endure over time, can it transcend the pass-
ing moment and be sufficiently solid to sustain a
shared journey. If love is not tied to truth, it falls
prey to fickle emotions and cannot stand the test
of time. True love, on the other hand, unifies all
the elements of our person and becomes a new
light pointing the way to a great and fulfilled life.
Without truth, love is incapable of establishing a
firm bond; it cannot liberate our isolated ego or
redeem it from the fleeting moment in order to
create life and bear fruit.
If love needs truth, truth also needs love.
Love and truth are inseparable. Without love,
truth becomes cold, impersonal and oppres-
sive for people’s day-to-day lives. The truth we
seek, the truth that gives meaning to our jour-
ney through life, enlightens us whenever we are
touched by love. One who loves realizes that
love is an experience of truth, that it opens our
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