Fr. Quan Tran: Our Love is Perfected by Loving God

Fr. Quan Tran is a Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of Orange in California. Father Tran is currently a Parochial Vicar at St. Bonaventure parish in Huntington Beach. He is also the Secretary to the Pastoral Provision for Bishop Kevin Vann. His latest book is The Imitation of Mary:Keys to Growth in Virtue and Grace.

Holiness is the Perfection of Charity

St. Thomas Aquinas describes holiness as the perfection of charity. This makes sense because Scripture tells us that God is love and that He is holy. Therefore, to be holy is to be like God and to love perfectly. But how do we know of God’s love? And what does perfect love look like?

St. John tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God’s love is revealed in the Paschal Mystery, that is, the life, Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. St. Paul adds, “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

In other words, when we look at a crucifix, we see what love looks like. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another. By His life, death, and Resurrection, Jesus reveals the Father to us in His Person: “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). The Son has shown us the love of the Father by becoming human and suffering and dying for our redemption.  …