Stages of Love in the Spiritual Life

There are three stages in our love for God: servile love, mercenary love and filial love. The word servile derives from “servant”. A servant (or employee) does his master’s will out of fear of punishment. Likewise, beginners in the spiritual life do God’s will, obey the Commandments, avoid sin, and go to Mass on Sunday, etc, because otherwise they fear and expect God’s anger and punishment.... Read More