ched; it surmounts all
checking. Whatever of evil is heaped upon it, it remains in itself
good, and works only good.

35. The essential property, the "differentia essentialis," of genuine
love, as its nature requires fervency, is the fact that it cannot be
embittered. He who has it, will not cease to love, to do good and to
endure evil. In a word love cannot hate; it cannot be at enmity with
anyone. No evil can be wrought too great for love to endure. No one
can commit against it more sins than it can cover. It cannot be
enraged to the point of refusing to forgive. Its attitude is not
unlike that of the mother toward her child. The child may be imperfect
and impure, even filthy, but the mother notes it not, even if she sees
it. Her love blinds her. The eyes wherewith she looks upon her child
as the beautiful and God-given fruit of her own body are so pure that
she overlooks all imperfections, regarding them as nothing. Indeed,
she excuses, even glorifies, them. Although the child squints, it must
not be called squint-eyed, but love-eyed, and even a wart must be
thought to become it.

36. Behold, this is covering sins with love--a virtue peculiar to
Christians. The world does not possess that virtue. Such love is
impossible to it, whatever its pretensions and ostentations in that
respect. However precious the world's love may be, it is subject to
delusion, vanity and hypocrisy; for the world is false in appearance
and pretension. No worldling likes to be regarded hateful and envious
toward his neighbor, but succeeds in conducting himself, so far as
word and gesture are concerned, in an affable manner to all. This
attitude he maintains so long as we show him favors and obey his
pleasure. But when our love for him becomes a little disaffected and
we happen to offer a word he regards insulting, he promptly withdraws
his affections and begins to complain and to rage as if he had been
done a great wrong. He makes out he is under no obligation to endure
the injustice; and he boastingly plumes himself on having shown great
faithfulness and love to the offender, such fidelity as would have led
him readily to share with that one the very heart in his body, and now
he is so ill repaid that henceforth he will leave such people to be
served by the devil.

Such is the world's love. The world loves not "in deed," but "in
word," as John expresses it. 1 Jn 3, 18. It has no sincerity of heart.
Its love is a mere ignis-fatuus, shining