Theological Foundations new file

31 God in the Center heart, with all our soul, our thoughts, our will and with all our strength and we will become united with His Divinity in the tightest bond of faithful love.” 22 According to Father Papczynski, the people dedicated to God should exhibit such great concern for the progress of their love of God that they ought to conduct an examination of conscience every hour, asking them- selves how far they progressed in this love or to what degree they neglected it, and draw appropriate conclusions for further work on them- selves in this very important sphere of their lives. 23 * * * Just like for Father Papczynski, so also for Father Matulaitis- Matulewicz, love of God is the highest ideal and the chief principle of the Christian life. After all, life is a service to the One who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4, 8) and who loves everything that He created —more than a good father loves his children. A spring only produces water, the sun only emits rays, but God gives love and blessings. The goodness of all cre- ation has only been “borrowed” from Him just as the light from the sun; in reality only “One there is who is good” (Mt 19, 17). Just like the light of the sun in the air, His love radiates into all beings, yet it embraces man in a special way. We owe everything to Him. He gave us our body, our soul along with its faculties, our strength, the earth to take possession of, and, finally, His own Son. He loves both the righteous ones and the sin- ners, and if He sends us suffering, He does so out of love. His love stim- ulates our love. 24 He loves so that He would be loved. While it is true that there is nothing we can give God out of what we possess, because we have received everything from Him, yet we can give Him our heart and our love. St. Augustine said: “Nec colitur Deus nisi amando.” We worship God only by our love. He gave us everything out of love, so that later He would take pleasure in the goodness bestowed upon us. Therefore let us, too, love God, for it is only the love of God and the ser- vice to Him that matter. He alone is worthy of love because He is the Highest Good. Let us learn to remain in intimate communion with Him