IMITATING DIVINE CHARITY

SUNDAY, THIRTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Exod 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-4,47, 51; 1 Thess 1:5-10; Mt 22:34-40

The Commandments of Love

The Law of God came to its foundation when grace appeared on earth. Without grace, the Law was as fruitless as a barren fig tree. But we must understand that God’s Law is perfect, as Psalm 19:7 says: “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” The Law of God revives our souls by revealing our souls' weakness and keeping us alert for the coming of grace, through which we receive spiritual life. The Law of God is perfect because it reveals God’s mind for us; for God’s will is perfect and the source of every perfection. By fostering the proper orientation to God, away from self in our souls, the Law prepares us to receive God’s life and perfection. The Law renews the image of God, who is a sacrifice, within our souls by dissuading us from trusting in ourselves in the worship of God, guiding us to entrust ourselves to him. A true worshipper of God puts no value on self, for every work of self is tainted by pride and arrogance. Pride is the seed of evil in us, sown at the fall of our first parents at the serpent’s instigation. The Law reverts our attention from self to God, our Creator.

The Law reveals the divine life to us, but does not make it available; it awaits the grace of Jesus Christ to complete its mission in us. Every demand of the Law that mirrors our self-destitution reveals more of God’s will, for it shadows the work of grace. To see ourselves in the needy and the destitute is an act acceptable to God. “You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare, and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your children orphans.” These precepts which concern others and our treatment of them renew the image of God in our souls. They lead us away from ourselves to God for the good of the other. They foreshadow grace and anticipate its coming in Jesus Christ. In the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, we see God’s dedication to our salvation and spiritual well-being. Jesus Christ is the Father’s sacrifice for our redemption from sin and eternal salvation. Though self can hijack these precepts, they mirror God’s life and operations among us. Through them we imitate God’s consecration to our well-being and eternal salvation.

We must not practice these precepts without attachment to God; we must root them in God by accompanying our practice with prayer. Prayer, as that of the Psalmist, transforms them into grace-actions. “I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my saviour. My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.” This expressed commitment to God makes the precepts covering charity to others God’s action within us. These charitable aspects of the Law are closest to grace, and form the essence of the Old Law. Hence, our Lord presented them as the second most important or greatest commandment of the Law. “‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’” The first and the greatest is the seat of grace, for grace is necessary for the fulfilment. Hence, it is Jesus Christ essentially, as the hypostatic union of human and divine natures.

In Jesus Christ, the Law is given anew and fulfilled for us. He is the knowledge and love of God the Father given and received in human nature. He is our New Law in the sense that he issues the Law with grace. In him we find grace working in human nature. Through Jesus Christ, therefore, we put to death the sinful self, to live the spiritual life of the Son of God. Saint Paul considered his life in grace as Christ himself living and drawing souls into communion with the Father. “You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, despite the great opposition all round you.” The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ transforms us into channels of divine love, which is the cutting edge of Christianity. Without loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, our Christian faith would still be in the infancy stage, and our sacrifices unwholesome. This was the praiseworthy witnessing of the Thessalonians. “We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God.” Therefore, the Eucharistic Sacrifice forms the Church, and the Church is the Sacrifice, which defines our lives as Christians.  

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.