Irascible Love and Its Necessity

You may look at the first word in the title and think, "Now I know he isn't speaking English". I would say that isn't entirely false, because I have only seen Aquinas use it, but he had a way of naming/applying terms well. The irascible power is a power of the soul that deals with overcoming obstacles and difficulties, fortitude is the habit of appropriately using this power. This power is the other side of the coin of the concupiscible power, which is oriented towards seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, the irascible power is concerned with resisting and overcoming challenges that impede the pursuit of good. It includes passions such as hope, daring, fear, despair, and anger, which are directed towards arduous or difficult (accomplishing/obtaining) goods and (avoiding) evils. What is irascible love then? Irascible love is the kind of love we need to truly love well because the full gift of self (in ways not-directly/inherently-biological) is found nowhere else than in seeking the arduous good and avoiding the most tempting evils.

Irascible love is better than concupiscible love by degree but is no less or more love. Love can be concupiscible and real, but love is not truly communicated [1] without being tested, proven. Thus, it is clear both are required, but irascible love in a particular way opposes mercenary love.[2] Mercenary love is no love at all, truth be told.[3] It depends entirely on what is available before it has anything to offer. Since we are finite, without God, that is our universal approach because we find ourselves lacking what we were made to use as a premise in all we do. Irascible love is not a love that man is naturally inspired with post-fall and without grace on that account and our concupiscence besides. With concupiscible love, we cannot be sure we are growing immune to mercenary love, because we often reference our desires before we act. Irascible love transcends desire and concerns itself with objective/universal/ultimate goods, working beyond the easy and sometimes the simple. It does not necessarily address the objective without the subjective, however. It should be noted that although we distinguish between aspects of true love, it is not worth emphasizing only a single aspect at the loss of the rest.[3] Let us give an example: imagine a married woman who seeks to console a brother-in-law who is in a situation with his spouse, and she spends a few hours every week with him in various contexts. She operates under the assumption that she is doing God's work. However, to everyone else, it is a suspicious enough situation that not only does it look bad from the outside but fails at being above reproach (1 Peter 3:16, Matthew 10:16). The best she can do truly is pray and maybe have the occasional phone call, anything more has potential not only to give scandal but to be an occasion of at least temptation if not sin or otherwise an occasion of allowing for the formation of destructive expectations in any related party. Irascible love in this context, insists upon the boundaries to preserve rightly ordered communion and prayer which is the only thing other than the occasional encouragement toward more efficacious/permissible resources. Any act of witness to the truth or assertion of virtue marks an irascible love, especially in the case of St. Stephen (depicted above) and of John the Baptist( Acts 7:59-60; Luke 9:7–9, Matthew 14:1–12, Mark 6:14–29).

In conclusion, irascible love is that which pays the cost to ensure communion and grace are undisturbed or better provided/received. It is the love guided by prudence. If love is willing for the good of the other in the interest of just communion, then irascible love is willing to the difficult goods and avoid evils either tempting or easy to slip into in the circumstance in the interest of just communion.[3] Irascible love is the principal way how Christ loved us, and it is the grace generated by that fully selfless act of unstoppable love which is the grace that heals us of our disease and helps us to answer Christ's command to love as He has loved us.[4] Perhaps it is the fact of God's unstoppable love which was the force behind the resurrection, that Truth and Existence Himself gave Himself totally in sufferings from the smallest to fiercest but instead of hurting or destroying Him, the full force of our disease ricocheted into itself. When we join ourselves to Christ not only in prayer and sacrament but even in our crosses, we become impenetrable to that which makes us impenetrable to love. Overcoming patterns of sin is always the hardest struggle because with Christ we must overcome the parts of us that shut Him out, and this is only possible to surrendering to the will of God as much as Jesus does, that we may send our diseases collapsing into itself in like manner and it is only the strength of such grace that allows us this capability. We will not get to Heaven letting our heart be captivated with what we think is the highest good, nor only loving in the small things, but surrendering to Him Who is love Himself and Highest Good Himself.[2] You see, intimidating words can be helpful.

Written by Carter Carruthers

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