6 teachings of the Gospel to learn to love, according to Mons. Munilla

“It is easy to be happy, the difficult thing is to be simple.” With statements like this and abundant quotes from the Holy Scriptures, Mons. José Ignacio Munilla, Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, invited reflection at the International Eucharistic Congress in Quito on six teachings of the Gospel that guide us towards true Christian love.

Below, we summarize his key points of the “school of the heart of Jesus”, shared during the conference he gave on Wednesday, September 11 and which was titled “The Sacred Heart of Jesus, demand for fraternity”.

1. Purify the heart

Bishop Munilla began by highlighting the importance of interior conversion, quoting Jesus in Matthew 15:11: “It is not what enters through the mouth that makes a man unclean, but what comes out of the heart”. The teaching of Christ, the prelate explained, is aimed at the “inner change of man,” that is, transforming the selfish heart “into a kind and generous one.”

According to the Spanish bishop and theologian, it is not about first changing external behaviors and bad habits, but rather focusing on the root of the problem. “Jesus is committed to the conversion of the heart, that once it has been converted, it opens to love, and love, obviously, will be translated sooner or later, sooner rather than later in life, into works,” he said. .

2. Seek the glory of God, not vainglory

In order to truly love, Bishop Munilla stressed that it is essential to avoid the search for vainglory, which has as synonyms vanity, conceit, presumption, among others. “(When) we do not seek the glory of God, we seek vainglory, and thus it is impossible to love. If you seek vainglory, others are your competitors,” he recalled.

On the other hand, when you seek the glory of God, you can live in brotherhood. He remembered the Sermon on the Mount: “Be careful not to practice your works so that they can be seen”. According to Bishop Munilla, the key is to act with humility and simplicity.

3. Fraternal correction

A third teaching is fraternal correction, an act of love that, according to the Gospel, must be carried out with charity. Citing the passage from Matthew 18:15-17, Bishop Munilla explained that correction is essential to help others improve: “If your brother sins, go and rebuke him, alone with him. If he listens to you, you will have won your brother”.

The prelate highlighted that fraternal correction “is a sign of true charity, of true brotherhood,” and therefore, “it has an important place in learning to love.”

4. Break the dynamics of heartbreak

In this lesson, Bishop Munilla insisted that we should not return evil for evil, following the words of Jesus: “Do not confront him who wrongs you”. He compared this teaching with the well-known phrase: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and the world will be blind and toothless.”.

Mons. Munilla assured that the key is that, “when we suffer evil, we fight not to become accomplices of that evil,” since there is something worse than being a victim of evil and that is “becoming someone else’s executioner.”

“Jesus wants to tell us that we must be willing to suffer evil without returning it in the same measure. The worst thing about evil is that it makes you bad (…) Only by knowing the love of God towards us, who, being sinners, have been loved, can we receive this message of ‘Love your enemies’”.

5. Don’t make the wrong enemy

The fifth lesson focuses on the true source of evil: Satan. Bishop Munilla recalled Saint Paul’s warning in Ephesians 6:11-12: “Our fight is not against men of flesh and blood, but against evil spirits”. Often, the bishop noted, we confuse people with true enemies, forgetting that the evil one acts behind them.

“One of the reasons why it is so difficult for us to fulfill the commandment to love our enemies is because we do not sufficiently take into account the existence of the devil and his malevolent action in us and in our neighbors,” he said.

Understanding this, he maintained, allows us to move from resentment to compassion, praying for those who hurt us instead of judging them. “Do not make the wrong enemy, what you hate in your neighbor, in your enemy, is the action of the evil one in him. For this reason, the evangelical fraternity leads us to discover that the true enemy is him.”

6. Make yourself small

Finally, Bishop Munilla closed with a fundamental teaching from the heart of Jesus: simplicity and humility. He remembered the words of Christ: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). According to the bishop, simple hearts open more easily to love. He compared this attitude to the trust of children, who forgive easily because they trust their parents. “It is easy to be happy, the difficult thing is to be simple,” he concluded, inviting the faithful to live with the humility that Christ asks.

Bishop Munilla made it clear that learning to love is not an automatic process, but a challenge that requires the guidance of Christ and interior transformation. “We need the heart of Jesus to learn to love,” he stressed, remembering that the Gospel is a true school of love.