The practice of Humility - 26

Never wish to be loved in a singular way.  Since love depends on the will and the will tends by its nature towards good, it follows that being loved and considered good are one and same thing.  The desire to be esteemed with a preferential love does not harmonize with a sincere humility.

Stop begging for the love of creatures; how much fruit would you get if you rectify! Take refuge in the sacred wounds of the Savior; you will experience untold divine sweetness in the adorable Heart of Jesus.

The generous renunciation of human love for the love of God will empower you to savor abundantly the honey of divine consolation; these divine consolations are always denied to the prisoners of the false and alluring sweetness of earthly compensations.  Divine consolations are so pure that they do not mix with earthly compensations; we are filled with the former the more we empty ourselves of the latter.  Moreover, your soul will be able to turn freely to God and find repose in his presence contemplating his infinite perfection.

Finally, since there is nothing sweeter than to love and be loved, if you deprive yourself of this human pleasure for the love of God, the Lord takes possession of your heart, undivided by any other natural love; and you will be offering to God a sacrifice most pleasing to him.

Do not fear that by so doing you will cool your charity for your neighbor.  Rather, you will love your neighbor with a purer love; not for your own interest –following your own inclinations– but only to please God, doing what you know He likes.

J. Pecci (later Pope Leo XIII)