Among the perfections of God which Jesus has revealed, charity has first place. It is so important that, when He asks us to imitate God, His first requirement is an intense practice of charity toward God and our neighbor.
The precept of charity, like that of striving for perfection, has no limits: however much we love God, we shall never succeed in loving Him as much as He is capable of being loved, that is, as much as He deserves; and however much we love our neighbor, we shall never love him as God loves him.
Jesus thus invites us to rise to perfection, to a holiness which has no limits and which requires of us a continual advancement, progress and ascension. Although we always do little, a mere nothing compared with so lofty an ideal, Our Lord is satisfied with this little, provided we put all our good will into it.Another affirmation of Jesus being satisfied with the smallest inclination of our feeble wills toward His own. Then He pours out His grace on us to bring us even closer to Him.
I was wowed by the thought that I can never love my neighbor as God loves him, nor can I know him as God knows him. This makes me think about never judging others but only willing God's graces for them.
St. Augustine says regarding the divine perfection Jesus invites us to, "Strive for it untiringly and uninterruptedly."
This is a wonderful and thought provoking post Barbara. Charity towards others isn't always easy, but like anything we strive to achieve, our continued practice leads to improvement.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this one.
Thank you for posting this, Barbara. I need to look into this Divine Intimacy book. I thought I had plenty on my bookshelf, but have found so many more good finds through these last 6 months in the blogging world.
ReplyDeleteBarbara -
ReplyDeleteThis was great. Really needed this perspective. Thanks.
God Bless.