9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
all, only one commandment, since all commandments have only one objective, which is charity.
As the many twigs and branches of a tree are offshoots of the same root, so the various acts of
virtue grow out of the one root, charity. The commandments of the Lord are many, and yet
they are one. They are many in a multiplicity of works, but they are one in their source, which is
charity (St. Gregory the Great). Charity is the motive force behind all the commandments, and
it is charity and charity alone which unites us with God and makes us like unto Him. It makes
us objects of divine love and children of God, and draws God Himself to us. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost dwell in us and share with us their divine and blessed
life. “He that abideth in charity, abideth in God and God in him.”
There are certain marks of growth in charity. The more we love, the more conscious we
become of our own imperfection, of our own sinfulness, of our own impurity, of our own
perversity. We become acutely aware of our lack of progress because of our attachment to
worthless things that prevent us from giving ourselves up completely to the love of God and
of our Savior. How selfish we are, how reluctant to give up all for God, to submit to Him
entirely and completely! When we realize this we are not hindered and checked, but we are
humbled and inspired to strive for a more perfect love of God. This is the feeling that urged
the saints to long for humiliations and suffering. Previously the consciousness of sin was a
torture to them and the source of their zeal; now their inability to love Him sufficiently, to
consume themselves by sacrifices for Him, is an incomparably greater torture. They wish
to give God a superabundant love because of their vivid consciousness of the feebleness of
all that they do. This is a sign that they are growing in charity. The more we grow in charity,
the more dissatisfied we are with our present state. Such a dissatisfaction does not prostrate
us, or discourage us, or make us despondent; it urges us rather to greater and better things.
It awakens in us a need for greater perfection, a need to be more pure and holy. It makes us
grateful to God and gives us an unshakable confidence in His help and grace; at the same
time we acquire a deep remorse for not having responded to the graces already offered. The
more we grow in charity, the more insatiable becomes our desire to make use of all that life
brings for the greater honor and glory of God. The greater our love for God, the closer we
draw to Him, the more we desire to suffer for Him, the more we desire to bear all things for
Him out of pure and perfect love.
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Gradual).
By these words the sacred liturgy directs us to unite ourselves to the Church and to Christ our
head. By this union with the body of Christ and with our brethren our love will grow more and
more till it reaches perfection. Only by such a union does the Lord, the “first-born among many
brethren,” unite Himself to us. He makes us His members and makes it possible for us to join
our prayers, works, sufferings, which are in themselves worthless, to His prayers, works, and
sufferings. Now our prayers and works become a vital part of His, which are of infinite value.
Our works and sufferings are transformed by His spirit, His love, His purity, and His perfection,
and thus acquire a value in the sight of God which by themselves they would lack. Thus we grow
rapidly in grace, virtue, and love. This power of growth is acquired by virtue of our baptism and
our union with Christ our head. “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity.” What would we be without this union with Christ our head and with His
Church? Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
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