by Fr. Bel R. San Luis, SVD
Which commandment of the law is the greatest: to love God or to love one’s fellowman? Both views have their staunch defenders.
The parish council of a certain prosperous suburban community decided to renovate their old church to provide a worthy celebration of the liturgy.
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When the leaders of a socially-conscious group working with the poor learned of the big project, they vigorously protested, saying, “It’s a scandal to beautify the surroundings while the poor in our parish lack shelter!”
The leaders suggested that the money be used instead to finance social action projects.
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This incident illustrates two sharply opposed views of Christian faith: one we may call the vertical dimension; the other, horizontal.
Those who hold the vertical view says that our religion has to do with God or with nothing at all. Their concern is the salvation and sanctification of souls. Prayer, meditation, sacraments, in the traditional sense, are the elements of the vertical view.
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Advocates of the horizontal view, on the other hand, say it is a scandal for the church to build magnificent edifices when people nearby lack the basic necessities. When we are judged, they add, God will not ask us how kilometric our prayers and novenas are, but how much we have helped the “least of Christ’s brethren.”
Which of these two views is correct? Where does the true Christian stand?
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When we are dealing with our relationship with God and our fellowmen, the deepest source of our inspiration must be Christ and the gospels. In this 30TH Sunday, Jesus gospel says that there’s only one greatest commandment but, like a coin, there are two sides: love of God and love of one’s neighbor. Authentic discipleship consists not in espousing one extreme view to the exclusion of the other but in the pursuit of both.
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A Christian who goes to church regularly but at the same time is harsh, unkind and merciless to his or her workers or involved in corrupt practices is flawed.
How then can we resolve the tension between the two views?
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Although Christ was totally immersed in his work of preaching, teaching, healing, he never forgot to turn to the Father in prayer. Reflect on this passage: “In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there” (Mk 1,33ff; read also Lk 5,15-16).
In Christ we find his love for his Father and love for neighbor in a wonderful harmony.
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We, his followers, are called to combine and live the vertical and horizontal requisites of our faith. That is how Jesus lived in this world and also where he died. The CROSS is a fitting symbol with the vertical and horizontal wooden pieces intersecting.
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A spiritual speaker once said that the two dimensions are like the two wings of a bird. Without one, the bird cannot fly.
Let’s strive to live a balanced piet y– loving God and loving our fellowmen. That’s the greatest love of all and the necessary path to our salvation.
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Today is PRISON AWARENESS SUNDAY. The Lord Jesus said: “I was in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25,36).
Let’s pray for them. Let’s pray especially that they accept their imprisonment as reparation for their offence, reform and start a new life.
God’s message: He never gives up on even the worst criminal or sinner.