Our
creation in God's image, the image of Love itself, is the
basic truth upon which Pallottine spirituality is based.
The
Founder gave us as our motto "The love of Christ urges us
on,"words taken from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians
(2 Cor 5:14-15) He taught that love is the "constitutive
element" of our community. It is, therefore, an ideal for
which we are to strive constantly both within our community
and in all our apostolic woks.
Love
is to be both the source of our unity and the motive for
our apostolic action. Vincent reminds us that without love,
there is no apostolate.
While
we take vows in accordance with current Church law, we are
reminded that it must be love, Christ's love for us and
our love for Him, that binds us to live the life we profess
and binds us to one another. St. Vincent recognized that
if love were to be found lacking, we would cease to exist.