Innocence compromised and masked by grace,
Clinging to the mere illusions of the past.
All bestowed upon written laws,
Its recipients wallowing deeply in it.
Having followed them to the letter,
Change is inevitable—
And so does the universal feeling of love.
The concept of love has eluded mankind,
Used as a tool of trade by many,
Confused as infatuation by some.
They misinterpret this God-given gift,
Never imagining the repercussions.
Individuals shifting their gaze towards immorality,
Surrendering to their insatiable unholy calls,
Throwing aside our biblical principles,
Referring to them as wayward and barbaric.
They who languish in debauchery,
Purity stolen at a tender age,
Without the exchange of vows,
All in the name of giving in to lust.
Before we strive, before we perform, and before we prove anything at all, we are already held in the gaze of the One who is Love. It is only in that divine gaze that we discover who we truly are. When we shift our gaze toward the “tool of trade,” we don’t just lose our purity; we lose our identity.
“Chastity is the surest guard of choices. It is the ‘yes’ to the person and the ‘no’ to the use of the person. It is the love that refuses to turn a human being into an object of trade.”
— St. John Paul II
In faith and Service,
Tom Patrick.