The Illusion of True Love

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this time and time again whenever I post something relating to relationships, but I never tire of saying it - I probably don’t know what I’m talking about since I’ve never been in a relationship before.

Ha. No resentment there. Promise. :P

But being in a high school where it’s really not that difficult to spot a couple making out in the locker room or holding hands in the hallways all googly-eyed, and being a Catholic, young man surrounded by a culture filled with many forms of “entertainment” promoting false images of what relationships are and should be - I can’t help but feel as if I know more about relationships than I expect myself to.

I find the concept of Valentine’s Day strangely contradictory because I believe that a lot of individuals in today’s society feel unloved despite having boyfriends or girlfriends to hold. In fact, Mother Teresa once said that she believed that “the biggest disease the world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved.”

And I question why this is so.

A friend once asked me if I’ll ever regret the fact that I was never in a relationship if I ever became a priest. And it really made me think.

I think that it’s only human for us to long for some sort of companionship, and so many of us will go about our lives seeking that perfect someone who can fulfill our longing for companionship and help us be happy.

However, thanks to the initiative of musicians like Adele and Taylor Swift, we are reminded of the unfortunate truth that our relationships don’t always have happy endings.

Going back to my point that many of us feel unloved, I feel as if this is so because we usually become so engrossed with our current relationships, or with relationships that could have been, or with finding our soulmate; that within our searching and longing, and failures and disappointments, we forget that we’re already loved so much by our Father in Heaven who longs to be with us one day.

I’m not saying that relationships are inherently wrong. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to pursue the girl or guy of your dreams. And I’m definitely not saying that love cannot be found within teenage relationships.

I just urge you all to never lose sight of the love that transcends all other love. The love that can be found in the cross of our salvation.