October 10, 2025
Sometimes the first time we encounter unselfish love is in our grief. The loss of someone we love gives us an appreciation of our ability to love. It also gives us an appreciation that our love is not necessarily “perfect” because our thoughts always return to ourselves and our loss.
But in the end “unselfish” love really hinges on our willingness to accept someone else’s imperfections, hopefully as much as they were willing to put up with ours for the sake of love.
When we love unselfishly we’re willing to sacrifice for someone else. That’s not always easy, but it’s always necessary in a relationship. Love that is not willing to sacrifice for the good of another person, isn’t true love, it’s transactional love.
As Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire often says when asked to define love: “It’s willing the good of the other.” In life…and in death.
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