Arise and Walk

There is a special precept to love our neighbor. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Fraternal charity stems from the love for God. We all belong to the same family; we are all children of God, brothers in Christ, called to live together in unity. It is not the good qualities of someone that should move us to love him or her. Of course we all like kind hearted and good-natured individuals, people who are nice to be with. We would choose to work with fellows easy to get along with, those with pleasant character and attractive personality. But none of these is Christian charity. The fraternal love demanded of us is a supernatural love. It means loving God in our neighbor or loving our neighbor for the sake of God.

Once I was driving in downtown Johannesburg when I caught sight of a huge billboard that says: “Do you have fifty friends? That’s not enough. Do you have one enemy? That’s too many.” It struck me to read that message in a society marred by racial violence. For the moment, I thought, it gave me a wonderful idea to preach about.

As we journey through life, we find ourselves having to share the road with persons whose presence, we feel, is a burden, a source of worry for us. Sometimes we wonder why in the world we met this or that fellow who embitters our life, soils our day, takes away our precious moments, saps our energy and robs us of interior peace. He or she need not be a stranger. That person can be your own brother, sister, father, mother, spouse or anyone else close to you. Precisely the people we live or work with are those whose defects we know too well. They are the ones whose modus vivendi and modus operandi test the limit of our patience and charity.

How much worries and irritations we would be spared of were we more accommodating and tolerant! If we examine ourselves, many of the bad moments we go through are self-induced. They are over-reactions to the little mistakes of others. We need to grow in the virtue of humility and patience. When we feel critical of others, we would do well to remember our own faults, the injustices we have committed, our ingratitude and lack of charity. Much as we would like to be excused for our mistakes, we need to excuse others of theirs. Let us learn to share the road with everyone.

People are not always what we want them to be, yet God always wants us to treat them with charity. We cannot please everybody all the time. Neither do we have to. It is enough to please God. If our conscience is clear we will be serene. For as long as we walk in this valley of tears, we cannot dream of a world where nobody ever contradicts us. Defend your right when you have to, but bear the injustices patiently. The saints are unperturbed by the human judgment, however harsh and unjust, for they seek to be always at peace with God.

To live charity we need not set aside our habitual occupation and devote all our time to some social work. Charity is not just about helping the poor. We can spend our life serving the marginalized but still lack the rudiments of fraternal love, the kind Jesus wants us to live. The virtue of charity begins at home, in one’s workplace, among those we live with. Everything big begins small. The world would not fit in our heart if we cannot smile at the person beside us now. Charity is fundamentally an attitude that shows itself in a thousand and one details, above all in our spirit of understanding.

Our society may be marred by divisive elements and vested interests, but we do not lack selfless individuals, warm-hearted people who strive to make a difference in ways big and small. In a gathering with friends, someone told us about what he had seen one day: It was a few days before Christmas. A poor boy, in shabby clothes, stood outside a mall, his eyes glued to a pair of shoes. He could only fancy wearing it, until a couple – a total stranger – dropped in and got it for him in a sheer act of kindness. Charity sometimes leaves us awestruck in a world so used to indifference. What matters most, of course, is not the amount of cash we dole out, but the generosity of our heart.

Indeed, love is not just about giving something. It calls for self-giving. It is in the sincere gift of oneself that we discover our true essence. It is in loving that the human person comes closest to God and to his neighbor. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). This means self-sacrifice, the ability to deny oneself. That is the only way to make the rest of our life useful. “While I slept, I dreamed that life was nothing else but joy. I woke up and saw that life was nothing else but service. I served and I saw that service was joy”.

Lord, inflame my heart with the fire of your love. Show me how to root out every trace of hatred and bitterness from my heart. Help me to acquire the habit of seeing the bright side of people. May I be careful in my speech, delicate in my manners, fair in my judgment, positive in my attitude and pure in my intention. Make me generous, understanding and forgiving. When I fail in charity, I fail in everything. But when I truly love, I fulfill all that I need to do. So borrowing the words of a spiritual writer, “Give me, Lord, whatever you ask and ask me whatever you want.”