Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/441

 LOVE

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LOVE

The qualifications, " with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole stren^h'', do not mean a maximum of inten- aily, for intensity of action never falls under a com- mand; still less do they imply the necessity of feeling more sensible love for God than for creatures, for visible creatures, howsoever imperfect, appeal to our sensibility much more than the invisible God. Their true significance is that, both in our mental appreciation and in our voluntary resolve, God would stand above all the rest, not excepting fa- ther or mother, son or daughter (Matt., x, 37). St. Thomas (II-II, Q. xliv, a. 5) would assign a special meaning to each of the four Biblical phrases; others, with more reason, take the whole sentence in its cumu- lative sense, and see in it the purpose, not only of rais- ing charity above the low Alatcrialism of the Saddu- oees or the formal Ritualism of the Pharisees, but also of declaring that "to love God above all things is to in- sure the sanctity of our whole life" (Le Camus, "Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jfeus-Christ", III, 81).

The love of God is even more than a precept binding the human conscience; it is also, as Le Camus observes, "the principle and goal of moral perfection".

As the principle of moral perfection in the supemat- aral order, with faitn as foimdation and hope as incen- tive, the love of God ranks first among the means of salvation styled by theologians necessary, * ' necessitate medii". By stating that "charitv never fallcth away" (I Cor., xiii, 8), St. Paul clearlv intimates that there is no difference of kind, but only of degree, be- tween charity here below and glory above; as a cons^ auence Divine love becomes the necessary inception of uiat God-like life which reaches its fullness in heaven only. The necessity of habitual charity is inferred from its close communion with sanctifying grace. The necessity of actual charity is no less evident. Apart from the cases of the actual reception of baptism, pen- ance, or extreme unction, wherein the love of charity, by a special dispensation of God, admits of attrition as a substitute, all adults stand in need of it, according to I John, iii, 14: " He that loveth not, abideth in death ".

As the goal of moral perfection, always in the super- natural order, the love of God is called "the greatest and the first commandment" (Matt., xxii, 38), "the end of the commandment" (I Tim., i, 5), " the bond of perfection" (Col., iii, 14). It stands as an all-impor- tant factor in the two main phases of our spiritual life, E* "ication and the acquisition of merits. The justi- power of charity, so well expressed in Luke, vii, [id I Pet., iv, 8, has in no wav been abolished or reduced by the institution of the Sacraments of Bap tism and Penance as necessary means of moral rehabil- itation; it has only been made to include a willingness to receive these sacraments where and when possible. Its meritorious power, emphasized by St. Paul (Rom.. viii, 28), covers both the acta elicited or commanded by charity. St. Augustine (De laudibus caritatis) oalls charity the "life of virtues" (i*ita virtntum); and St. Thomas (II-II, Q. xxiii, a. 8), the " form of virtues" (forma virttUum). The meaning is that the other vir- tues, while possessing a real value of their own, derive a fresh and greater excellence from their union with charity, which, reaching out directly to God, ordains all our virtuous actions to Him. As to the manner and degree of influence which charity should exercise over our virtuous actions in order to render them meritorious of heaven, theologians are far from being agreed, somerefiuiring only the state of grace, or habit- ual charity, others insisting upon the more or less fre- quent renewal of distinct acts of di^^ne love. Of course, the meritorious power of charity is, like the virtue itself, susceptible of indefinite growth. St. Thomas (II-II, Q. xxiv, 24 a. 4 and 8) mentions three principal stages: (1) freedom from mortal sin by stren- uous rf'sistanco to temptation; (2) avoidance of delil>- entte vmial sins by the assiduous practice of virtue;

(3) union with God through the frequent recurrence of acts of love. To these, ascetic writers like Alvarez de Paz, St. Teresa, St. Francis of Sales, add many more degrees, thus anticipating even in this world the "many mansions in the Father's house". The prerog- atives of charity should not, however, be construed so as to include inamissibility. The saying of St. John (I Ep., iii, 6), "UTiosoever abideth in'^him [God], sin- neth not", means indeed the special permanence of charity chiefly in its higher degrees, but it is no al)so- lute guarantee against the possible loss of it; while the infused habit is never diminished by venial sins, a single grievous fault is enough to destroy it and so end man's union and friendship with God.

II. Love of Man. — While charity embraces all the children of God in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory (see Communion of Saints), it is taken here as mean- ing man's supernatural love for man, and that in this world ; as such, it includes both love of self and love of neighbour.

(1) Love of Self.— St. Gregory the Great (Hom. XIII in Evang.) objects to the expression " charity towards self ", on the plea that charity requires two terms; and St. Augustine (De bono viduitatis, xxi) remarks that no command was needed to make man love himself. Obviously, St. Gregory's objection is purely grammat- ical; St. Augustine's remark applies to natural self- love. As a matter of fact, the precept of supernatural love of self is not only possible or needed, but also clearly implied in Christ's command to love our neigh- l>our as ourselves. Its obligation, however, bears in a vague manner on the salvation of our soul (Matt., xvi, 26), the acquisition of merits (Matt., vi, 19 sqq.), the Christian use of our body (Rom., vi, 13; I Cor., vi, 19; Col., iii, 5), and can hardly be brought down to prac- tical points not already covered by more specific precepts.

(2) Love of Neighbour, — The Christian idea of brotherly love as compared with the pagan or Jewish concept has been touched upon elsewhere (see Charitt AND Charities). Briefly, its distinctive feature, and superiority as well, is to be found less in its commands, or prohibitions, or even results, than in the motive which prompts its laws and prepares its achievements. The faithful carrying out of the "new commandment" is called the criterion of true Christian discipleship (John, xiii, 34 sq.), the standard by which we shall be judged (Matt., xxv. 34 sqq.), the best proof that we love God Himself (I John, iii, 10), and the fulfil- ment of the whole law (Gal., v, 14), because, viewing the neighbour in God and through God, it has the same value as the love of God. 'The expression "to love the neighbour for the sake of God " means that we rise above the consideration of mere natural solidarity and fellow-feeling to the higher view of our common Divine adoption and heavenly heritage; in that sense only could our brotherly love be brou^t near to the love which Christ had for us (John, xiii. 35), and a land of moral identity between Christ ana the neigh- bour (Matt., xxv, 40), become intelligible. From this high motive the universality of fraternal charity fol- lows as a necessary consequence. Whosoever sees in his fellow-men, not the human peculiarities, but the God-given and God-like privileges, can no longer re- strict his love io members of the family, or co-rehgion- ists, or fellow-citizens, or strangers within the borders (Lev., xix, 34), but must needs extend it, without dis- tinction of Jew or Gentile (Rom., x, 12), to all the units of the human kind, to social outcasts (Luke, x, 33 son.), and even tp enemies (Matt., v, 23 sq.). Very f oroiDle is the lesson wherein Christ compels His hearers to recognize, in the much despised Samaritan, the true type of the neighbour, and truly new is the command- rnent whereby He urges us to forgive our enemies, to be reconciled with them, to assist and love them.

The exercise of charity would soon become injudi- cious and inoperative unless there be in this, as in all