Cultivating a culture of life-giving love
by Brigid Conroy, John Paul II Centre for Life and Briegé Entwistle, Loving for Life NZ
We both remember being told to save physical affection for marriage, while every song, movie, and friend insisted that “love” meant following our feelings. The mixed messages left us more confused than guided.
Whether you came of age in the 60s, 90s, or are navigating young adulthood today, the experience is remarkably similar: a culture equating freedom with
“anything goes,” and well-meaning voices responding with fear rather than wisdom. One extreme tells us to indulge every desire. The other tells us to suppress them entirely.
But what if neither extreme is the answer?
This September and October, Holy Family Parish asked Loving for Life NZ and the John Paul II Centre for Life to run a four-part series for their young adults - supporting a healthy dating culture in their community.
Centred on the themes of friendship, relationships, dating, and vocation, the series invited participants to engage with the Church’s beautiful vision for love and human flourishing. Up to 70 young people attended each session, hungry for real answers about love and relationships, accompanied by parish couples and supported by the young adults’ leadership team.
St John Paul II understood what we’re all searching for: a vision of love that’s neither naive nor cynical, that takes seriously both our dignity and our deepest desires. He would always encourage young people with the message: “Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ.” To have the courage to open yourself up, not to everything, not to nothing - but to Christ, who “knows what is in man” better than we know ourselves.
This is what we call “life-giving love” - love that finds its fulfilment in laying down one’s life, that doesn’t grasp or use, but gives and receives in true freedom. Cultivating a culture shaped by this vision is exactly what the John Paul II Centre for Life and Loving for Life NZ exist to do.
We share office space at the Diocesan Offices, but more importantly, we share a mission: helping people of all ages encounter God’s vision for human life, love, and relationships. Through formation programs, resources, and accompaniment, we’re creating spaces where Christ’s “words of life” can be heard above the cultural noise.
