When we look at humanity we see that it is neither complete nor finished-off; it is lacking something. We encounter ourselves and one another as people who are looking, listening, enquiring, journeying, searching for an experience that we would call good, an experience in which we can find ourselves. In fact, human beings experience themselves in need of fulfilment. Each one of us experiences this in our freedom of will. Everyone has his or her own freedom of will and so, at its root, the experience of desire is an intensely personal one. Desire is the experience of need. Is love the same as desire? No, love is much greater than desire. Desires come naturally to human beings, whereas we have the capacity for love, but love must be nurtured.

The capacity for love depends on a person’s willingness to seek something in common with others – he or she must subordinate him or herself to that thing for the sake of others. For instance, to make the roads safer places, drivers are called to respect a common code of driving. In doing so a driver subordinates his own way of driving to the needs of other road users. Love is a deeply human capacity in which my freedom is placed at the disposition of others. Love is not something ready made – it has to be chosen. Love, at its root, is a decision.