|
121. All the divine precepts are, therefore, referred
back to love, of which the apostle says, "Now the end
of the commandment is love, out of a pure heart, and
a good conscience and a faith unfeigned."(259) Thus
every commandment harks back to love. For whatever
one does either in fear of punishment or from some
carnal impulse, so that it does not measure up to the
standard of love which the Holy Spirit sheds abroad
in our hearts--whatever it is, it is not yet done as
it should be, although it may seem to be.
Love, in this context, of course includes both the
love of God and the love of our neighbor and, indeed,
"on these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets"(260) --and, we may add, the gospel and the
apostles, for from nowhere else comes the voice, "The
end of the commandment is love,"(261) and, "God is
love."(262)
Therefore, whatsoever things God commands (and one
of these is, "Thou shalt not commit adultery"(263) )
and whatsoever things are not positively ordered but
are strongly advised as good spiritual counsel (and
one of these is, "It is a good thing for a man not to
touch a woman"(264) )--all of these imperatives are
rightly obeyed only when they are measured by the
standard of our love of God and our love of our
neighbor in God [propter Deum]. This applies both in
the present age and in the world to come. Now we love
God in faith; then, at sight. For, though mortal men
ourselves, we do not know the hearts of mortal men.
But then "the Lord will illuminate the hidden
things in the darkness and will make manifest the
cogitations of the heart; and then shall each one
have his praise from God"(265) --for what will be
praised and loved in a neighbor by his neighbor is
just that which, lest it remain hidden, God himself
will bring to light. Moreover, passion decreases as
love increases(266) until love comes at last to that
fullness which cannot be surpassed, "for greater love
than this no one has, that a man lay down his life
for his friends."(267) Who, then, can explain how
great the power of love will be, when there will be
no passion [cupiditas] for it to restrain or
overcome? For, then, the supreme state of true health
[summa sanitas] will have been reached, when the
struggle with death shall be no more. |