Dear Saints,

This Sunday’s second reading concludes with St. Paul’s radical claim that “love is the fulfillment of the law.” It’s crucial that we read the order of that sentence properly: note that the law is not the fulfillment of love, but rather the other way around. We cannot afford to become “check-box Catholics” who believe ourselves justified by stringent rule-following. At best, technical compliance is insufficient; at worst, it’s a thin veneer for ruination. Our far more challenging task is to love our neighbors as ourselves.

But what is love? Citing Thomas Aquinas, the Catechism says that “to love is to will the good of the other.” Love, then, is a decision to prioritize our beloved’s wellbeing as God defines it. We know the famous hallmarks of such a choice: love is patient; love is kind; it does not envy; it does not boast; it keeps no records of wrongs; etc. Taken together, it can be summed up in one practical phrase: “a sincere gift of self.” Granted, it’s risky and at times excruciating to make an offering of our very selves to others because, like us, they’re imperfect – ill-equipped to properly honor or even recognize our sacrifice, and very often unable to match our efforts. And yet, love alone achieves the objectives the law has always sought: an end to selfishness, anger, division, rivalry, oppression, and war. Painful as the decision can be in the moment, love is ultimately the only victory over death, but it is a certain one.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ