Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Galatians 5:14


The whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Gal. 5:14).



Love according to Jesus and love according to our culture which surrounds us today are totally opposite. If a person does not struggle everyday with much prayer and meditation on the Word seeking to live the Word together with other true Christians, very easily, rather, automatically, one slides into the mentality of this world which takes advantage of others with hidden and disguised egoism.

This altruistic love, instead of (false!) “love” of egoism, is exemplified by the story of the good Samaritan. The path of a new humanity is that which passes by way of the transformation of the heart, from indifference to recognizing the other, to take care of the brother that needs us. Because the God that we love and in which we place all our trust is like this: God is the One Who has compassion for man, He is the One Who in Jesus made Himself neighbor to each of His creatures.

Jesus concludes the story by ordering, “Go and do likewise”. Here Jesus does not reassert a law. It is instead a proclamation of the Gospel: in Him, the Samaritan, God took care of me and loved me; because I too, healed from my illness, might love Him with all my heart and the brothers as myself. If in fact, Jesus is the Word which became close so that one might put the Word into practice, then to be the neighbor is no longer, for anyone, a distant goal, unrealistic or unattainable. If Jesus, the Samaritan, took care of me and loved me, I too can love God and neighbor, I too can show my solidarity with those who are in trouble. And one really loves the neighbor if one looks at him with the eyes of God

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An Experience of Life:

One day the house keys, the salary of the husband and other valuables disappeared. Who was it? The author of the theft must have been someone close to the family ... This caused great suffering for Mirta Zanella (Argentina), so much so that she could not even pray. Then, remembering that Jesus invites us to forgive, she forgave, even the person who robbed her. After a few days it became known that a lady in distress who begged for alms in the area and with whom she had for some time a cordial relationship, stole from a neighbor's house: while she threatened the woman with a gun, her husband carried off the stolen goods. Even Mirta, some time later, received from this woman serious threats and to defend herself called the police. The woman was arrested and convicted for various crimes and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

In the months following Mirta’s husband suggested to her to visit this woman in prison. "In no way!", she responded also because she was afraid ... Shortly after a new request: this time it was a priest of the parish, who proposed to go with a group of other ladies to the women's prison, where, among others, was imprisoned the woman who robbed her. A little confused, Mirta accepted, remembering the words of the Gospel: "Go therefore and learn what this means: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice." She went with the group, to the prison and at the conclusion of the Mass she saw the woman. It was a moment: she decided to greet her with a hug. Mirta recounted: "She began crying and asked forgiveness. I told her that the Lord had already forgiven her and I too had forgiven her. She asked me to pray for her children and I promised her I would."