Love transforms. It redeems.
In Les Misérables, Victor Hugo shows us that to love another person truly is, in a profound way, to see the face of God. The novel’s enduring power lies in its depiction of love not as a reward to be earned but as a grace freely given, shaping lives and illuminating the path from despair to mercy. In this Advent season—and indeed throughout the year—we are invited to witness and participate in this transformative love.
Bishop Myriel, with quiet humility and radical generosity, introduces Jean Valjean to a love that cannot be calculated or deserved. By giving him a second chance, Myriel embodies transformative love: sacrificial, merciful, and life-altering. Hugo writes, “He did not study God; he was dazzled by Him,” capturing the essence of love that transforms a soul—not through obligation or fear, but through grace freely extended.
Valjean’s response to this love is equally telling: he carries the bishop’s mercy forward into the world, saying,
“To love another person is to see the face of God.”
This is love that heals. Valjean’s journey is marked by the ways mercy reshapes him, teaching that forgiveness and charity are not abstract ideals but lived realities.
Transformative love often calls for sacrifice, echoing the very heart of the Gospel. Valjean’s willingness to care for Cosette, to shield her from harm, and to forgive those who wrong him reflects self-emptying love. Scripture reminds us:
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” —1 John 4:7–8
Transformative love draws us into God’s mercy and makes us conduits of healing in the world.
The narrative of Les Misérables mirrors the mystery of the Incarnation. God bends low to dwell among the broken, the hidden, and the humble. Advent invites us to see this in the Christ Child lying in a manger:
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” —Luke 2:7
Hugo’s characters model this incarnational love, showing us that when love is lived, it mirrors God’s presence in the world.
Though rooted in Advent reflection, the lessons of Les Misérables are timeless. Transformative love is accessible year-round: in acts of forgiveness, in extending mercy to those society has overlooked, in seeing the dignity of every person. Jesus commands us:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” —John 13:34
Love, freely given, has the power to heal wounds, redeem past mistakes, and reveal God in tangible ways.
As Les Misérables so powerfully shows us, transformative love is never meant to remain an idea or a sentiment. It is a lived response to grace, one that calls us to see others as God sees them and to allow mercy to shape our choices. The same love that redeems Jean Valjean invites us, here and now, to participate in God’s ongoing work of healing and renewal in the world.
Download the MagisAI app to continue cultivating this transformative love in your daily life. Through Scripture, reflection, and spiritual formation rooted in the Christian tradition, the app helps you remain attentive to God’s presence and responsive to the quiet invitations to love more deeply, generously, and faithfully.
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