“Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God.” (CCC 1822)
Father John Hardon wrote, “As Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ “(Mt 22:37).
Father Hardon wrote, “We must love God above all other things, and be ready to lose everything rather than offend him. Charity toward God, expressed by frequent acts of love, is necessary for salvation. In perfect charity, we are not motivated by any benefit, but simply by the desire to please the all-good God. This is pure love.”
St. Thomas says: “Charity makes man tend to God by uniting his affection to God in such a way that man no longer lives for himself, but for God.” Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen taught: “Charity plunges us into the very centre of God’s intimate life.” He also wrote: “Charity elevates our love and makes us capable of really loving God as He loves himself, although not with the same intensity.”
St. Francis de Sales said, “The only method of acquiring that love is by loving. You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working. Just so you learn to love God and man by loving.”
St. Bernard said, “The reason of loving God is God himself; the measure of loving God is to love him beyond measure”
Love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable. Trying to separate the charity due to God from that which is due to men is to destroy charity. St. Teresa of Avila said, “There are only two duties required of us—the love of God and the love of our neighbour, and the surest sign of discovering whether we observe these duties is the love of our neighbour.”
From the obligation of love follow both negative and positive duties towards others. Negative duties are summed up: “Do not unto others what you would not have them do to you.” Positive duties are summed up: “Do unto others as you would that they should do to you.”
Father John Hardon pointed out: “Our neighbour is any person who is able to enjoy everlasting happiness or who already enjoys it. Therefore our neighbour is any person on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the angels and saints in heaven.” He said, “Fraternal charity is put into practice by wishing our neighbour well out of love of God, and by performing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.”
All human beings are capable of natural love. We love those who love us, and we wish good for our relatives and friends. But to love all people, including our enemies, we need supernatural love.
Pope Francis said, “But there is a greater love, a love which comes from God and is directed towards God, which enables us to love God, to become his friends. It enables us to love our neighbours as God loves them, with the desire to share the friendship with God.”
Because of Christ, “this love drives us where we would not humanly go: it is the love for the poor, for what is not lovable, for those who do not care for us and are ungrateful. It is love for what no one would love, even for one’s enemy. Even for the enemy.”
This is “theological.” It comes from God and is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
“Christian love embraces what is not lovable, it offers forgiveness … Love is the ‘narrow gate’ through which we will pass in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Because at the twilight of life, we will not be judged on generic love; we will be judged precisely on charity, on the real love we had.”
St. John of the Cross said, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.” The saint also said, “Where there is no love, put love—and you will find love.”
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愛是「窄門」
天主教教理說：「愛德是超性的德行，藉著愛德我們為了天主自身，愛祂在萬有之上，又為愛天主的緣故，愛人如己。」（天主教教理#1822）
John Hardon神父寫道：「耶穌說：『你要全心、全靈、全意愛上主你的天主。』（瑪22:37）我們必須在萬有之上愛天主，且應準備捨棄一切而不冒犯祂。對天主的愛德，需透過頻繁的愛的行動來表達，這是得救所必需的。完美的愛德並非基於任何利益，而是純粹為了取悅全善的天主，這就是純愛。」
聖多瑪斯說：「愛德使人傾向天主，透過將情感與天主結合，使人不再為自己而活，而是為天主而活。」聖瑪利亞瑪達肋納嘉俾厄爾神父教導道：「愛德使我們深入天主內在生命的中心。」他也說：「愛德提升了我們的愛，使我們真正有能力如同天主愛自己一樣去愛天主，雖然不能達到同樣的強度。」
聖方濟·沙雷說：「獲得愛的唯一方法是去愛。你學會說話是透過說話，學會學習是透過學習，學會跑步是透過跑步，學會工作是透過工作。同樣，你學會愛天主和愛人是透過去愛。」
聖伯爾納鐸說：「愛天主的原因是天主自己；愛天主的標準是無限地去愛祂。」
愛天主與愛人是不可分開的。試圖將對天主的愛德與對人的愛德分開，實際上是破壞了愛德。聖女大德蘭說：「我們只有兩個義務 – 愛天主和愛人，辨別我們是否履行這些義務最確定的標誌是對近人的愛。」
愛的義務引出對他人之間的正反雙重責任。負面的責任總結為：「己所不欲，勿施於人。」而正面的責任總結為：「己所欲施於人。」
John Hardon神父指出：「我們的近人是任何能享受永恆幸福或已享有幸福的人。因此，我們的近人包括地上的人、煉獄中的靈魂，以及天上的天使和聖人。」他說：「以親人的愛德通過出於愛天主的心願祝福近人，並實踐心靈和肉身的慈悲善工。」
所有人都能夠擁有自然的愛。我們愛那些愛我們的人，並祝福我們的親友。但要愛所有人，包括敵人，我們需要超性的愛。教宗方濟各說：「但有一種更偉大的愛，來自天主的愛，指向天主，這使我們能愛天主，成為祂的朋友。使我們能如天主愛他們般愛近人，並願意分享與天主的友誼。因基督，這愛驅使我們去人性無法達到的地方：這是對貧者、不討人喜悅者、不愛我們且忘恩負義者的愛。這是愛那些沒人願意愛的，甚至愛敵人。這是「神學性」的：來自天主，是聖神在我們內的工作…基督徒的愛擁抱不討人喜歡的，並予寬恕…愛是「窄門」，我們將要從窄門進入天國。因為在人生的黃昏，我們將不會因泛泛之愛而被審判；我們將被審判的是愛德，是我們曾擁有的真實之愛。」
聖十字若望說：「在生命的黃昏，我們將只因愛而受審判。」這位聖人還說：「在沒有愛的地方，去播下愛 – 你便會找到愛。」
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