Lecture Notes #10

GOD’S LAW
Besides believing what God has revealed, we must keep His law. “But if thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments”
The law of God is contained in both natural and revealed law. Natural law is imprinted
by God in the hearts and minds of all men. It teaches the most important rules of morality:
homage due to God, treatment of others as we expect others to treat us, the evil of wilful injury
to oneself, the virtue of truth and honesty. Thus natural law is a definite expression of God's
will, requiring obedience.
Beside the natural law, there is the revealed law, chiefly composed of the Ten
Commandments and the Two Precepts of Charity. The revealed law is only a repetition and
amplification of the natural law.
THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS
Once a doctor of the law asked our Lord: “Master, which is the greatest commandment
of the Law?” Jesus said to him: “THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH THY WHOLE
HEART, AND WITH THY WHOLE SOUL, AND WITH THY WHOLE MIND AND WITH THY WHOLE
STRENGTH.” This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is similar to it:
“THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.” (Matt. 22:36-39)
The love of God is the greatest commandment because it includes all other
commandments. If we truly love God, we will do nothing to offend Him. We would not commit
sin, because sin is displeasing to Him. We would obey the commandments. Moreover, if we
truly love Him, we would do all things which He does not require, but which we know will
please Him.
The command to love our neighbor is not new. But Christ did give a new commandment
of love: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as | have loved
you, that you also love one another’ (John 13:34). What is new in Christ's commandment of
love is the standard which He sets, the standard which He Himself is. This standard demands
the maximum of human love, and it transform human love into a love which is DIVINE.
Through the eyes of faith, we see that the whole Christian morality revolves around the
LAW OF LOVE. “Love and do what you will’, says St. Augustine. This means to say that, those
who are united with God also have freedom to do as they please, for what pleases them is to
please God.
The two great commandments are inseparably united, so that one cannot be observed
without the other. As Holy Scripture says: “If anyone says “I Love God’, and hates his neighbor,
he is a liar’ (1 John 4:20). Thus, it isclear from this statement of St. John that our love of God is.
best measured by the love we give to our neighbor.
 More specifically, the first great commandment embraces the first three of the Ten
Commandments; while the second great commandment embraces the last seven. The two
great commandments affect and control all the powers of man: his will, his understanding, his
emotions, and his actions. Would we not have a perfect world, needing no other laws, if all men
obeyed these two great commandments strictly? For this reason, our Lord said: “On these two
commandments depend the whole law." (Matt. 22:40)
THE LOVE OF GOD
Why should we love God? We should love God because:
1. He is infinitely good and perfect and worthy of love. “One there is who is good, that is
God (Matt. 19-17). We can see the goodness and perfection of God all around us. If we
meditate on His goodness, we shall never tire of loving Him. We love our parents and friends
because they are good. Their goodness is nothing compared to the goodness of God.
2. He loves us, and is always doing good to us. We only have to think of ourselves and
our lives to find an innumerable number of favors He has granted us. “For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that those who believe in Him may not perish, but
may have life everlasting.” (John 3:16). “With age-old love | have loved you; so | have kept my
mercy toward you.” (Jer. 31:3). “Evry good gift and every perfect gift from above, coming down
from the Father of Lights" (James 1:17).
3. He wants and command us to love Him. We are God's creatures. Is it not wonderful
that He, the Infinite, should care for our love? Our Lord said very clearly: “Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy
whole strength.” (Mark 12:30)
4. Loving God makes us good. After studying the ultimate goal of all human acts, this
appears easy to understand. All human faculties tend towards something good, whether they
be on the physical level corresponding to our external faculties; or on the intellectual level
corresponding to our intellectual faculties which are more proper to our rational nature and are
capable of being elevated to the supernatural. There is no doubt, that the love of God is the
highest goal man could ever attained in his life. In fact, this is what St. Augustine referred to
when he said; “Thou hast made us for Thyself O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest
in You.” (Confessions)
THE PERFECT LOVE OF GOD
The love of God is the heart of the Christian life. It is true that the goodness of life, truth,
and friendship give energy to live and stir us on to action. Taking into consideration the tenor of
the first great commandment, we cannot but see the glaring truth that we must give to God our
total and unreserved love -- perfect love.
 When is our love of God perfect? Our love of God is perfect when we love Him above all
things, and for His own sake.
1. We love God above all things when we would rather lose life, property, friends, and
all things else, rather than offend Him; when we are ready to do anything in order to resemble
Him, to give Him pleasure. “He who loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me”
(Matt. 10:37). God permits us to love creatures, urges us to love our fellowmen; but such love
must be subordinate to the love of God. He will not take second place in our affections, “For |,
the Lord, your God am a jealous God" (Ex. 20:5). He will not permit us to love anything which
detracts one with from our complete love of Him.
2. We love God for His own sake when we love Him for His infinite perfection. Our love
of God is not perfect when we love Him only because He gives us gifts, or threatens us with
punishment, or promises us heaven. Nevertheless, imperfect love of God is often the beginning
of perfect love. Little by little perfect love develops from it.
PROOF OF OUR LOVE TO GOD
1. We can prove our love to God by showing obedience to his commandments. “If you
love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We should show our love more by deeds than
thy words as St. John says: “My dear children, let us not love in words, neither with the tongue,
but in deed’ (1 John 3:18). Loving God is not a mere delight in thinking of Him; it consists rather
of an act of the rational will, to live a godly life on account of that love.
2. We can also show our love of God by frequently thinking and speaking of Him. It is a
human trait to think and speak often regarding the object of our affection. One who loves God
intensely is united to Him at every moment in every fiber of his being: in thought, word, and
deed. “Where thy treasure is, there thy heart also will be” (Matt. 6:21).
3. Also, we show greater love of God when we not only avoid what he forbids, but do all
things that will give Him pleasure. Thus God does not commands us to go to Mass everyday, but
if we do so, there He is pleased by this mark of our love.
4. Moreover, we show greater love of God by accepting all things that comes from His
hands, not the only blessings but also misfortunes. One who habitually murmurs at all
inconveniences, sickness, trials and difficulties in life, does not have the true Christian love of
God. Let us remember the fact that God never promised us deliverance from all earthly ills in
this present life. St. Paul attests to this: “If | give away all | have, and if | deliver my body to be
burned, but have not love, | gain nothing.”
INCREASING OUR LOVE OF GOD
We can increase our love of God by loving Him. “Practice makes perfect’ so goes the
saying. The more we love God, the more we can love Him. Every piece of good work we do
makes us grow in God's love. Our love of God then increases in intensity, and not necessarily by
quantity but by quality.
THE MEANING OF LOVING GOD
Many Christians are confused about the place of loving God in their lives because they
do not understand what loving God means. One common error equates loving God with an
emotional experience: either a blissful “religious high’ or a constant “nice feeling” about God.
Christians who hold this view are in trouble; their emotions are variable. They will either rush
between emotional highs and lows, loving God in consistently, or they will settle into a state of
chronic discouragement and hopelessness over their inability to love God all the time. A second
error views loving God as a rigid obligation of obedience to be lived out with joyless severity.
For these Christians, the love of God is essentially an abstraction, an impersonal command of
duty.
Contrary to these views, the love of God is expressed and embodied in a personal
committed relationship. This concept is especially difficult for many modern men to
understand, for contemporary society offers few examples of successful committed personal
relationships. The most common example of such a relationship is that of husband and wife. If a
husband's love depends solely upon his positive emotions, he will probably love his wife more
intensely before marriage than after, and the intensity of his love will certainly vary from day to
day. To endure, a man’s love will must be built on something firmer than emotions. Similarly, a
man can't view his marriage as a set of rules and responsibility which he must dutifully fulfill.
His love must be deeply personal and all encompassing. To sum up, the type of love that
cements a marriage is committed; it is not based on emotions but on a decision to give oneself
fully to another. This love is also personal; it is not an adherence to the guidelines and
regulations, but a profound and total commitment to a whole person. The personal quality of
the relationship involves emotions, though the relationship is not based on them.
Similarly, the Christian's relationship with God should be a committed personal
relationship of love. It is committed love: one which binds man to God in a firm decision,
including but independent of man’s emotions. It is also a personal love: one which involves the
whole person ina total bond.
The Christian's relationship with God differs from the husband and the wife relationship
of love. In one significant respect: the Christian partner is the creator and Lord of the universe.
Man and God do not stand together as equals, but differ more in power and wisdom than a
man differs from a bird or an insect. We should respond with awe and obedience to this God of
greatness, power, glory, and holiness. But, God's love is as unfathomable as his holiness; He
does not compel our obedience but calls us to offer it freely, He calls us to give our lives as
“living sacrifices’ (Rom. 12:1), to order our lives so that they revolve completely around the
Lord himself.
 Therefore, Christians should use all their time, money, and actions to serve and glorify
God. This does not necessarily rule out a new car, attractive clothes, a trip to Florida, or other
desirable objects. However, the basis for these pleasures should be God's plan and not the
Christians. God will give Christians some of the pleasures that they want. Men should only be
concerned with pleasing God, and let the Lord be concerned with pleasing them. When we are
in a committed personal relationship of love with the creator of the universe, they can be
certain that he will satisfy all their needs and many of their desires.
PRACTICAL WAYS TO LOVE GOD
If Christians are to understand what loving God means for them in daily life, they must
take specific steps and actions to express and nourish their love of God. These steps are the
goals which together serve the Christian ideal of loving God above all things.
1. Personal Prayer. The first and most foremost important step in growing in our love of
God is the regular practice of personal prayer. In prayer, Christians can begin to experience God
in new and deeply personal ways and grow in appreciating His power, holiness and glory.
However, prayer is not always a moving emotional experience. Christians truly demonstrate
their fervent love for God by remaining faithful to a personal prayer time regardless of their
emotional state. As a Christian persevere in prayer through times of joy and times of dryness,
he express as his deep committed love for God. He also finds that God often works most
powerfully at the times when prayer is most difficult.
2. Corporate Prayer. Christians should also express their love of God through corporate
prayer of the church. God has made the church “a holy temple” (Eph. 2:21; 1Pet. 2:5). This
means the church is God's appointed place of worship, the central sanctuary. Therefore, a
Christian who wants to love God and live his presence should meet regularly with other
Christians for common worship and prayer. This can happen in large assemblies such as church
services and prayer meetings. It can also happen in small gatherings, for Jesus said: “Where two
or three are gathered in my name, | am in the midst of them” (Matt. 18: 20; see John 4:19- 23).
Christians who belong to churches with sacramental tradition should partake of these
sacraments as a way of loving God. Corporate worship joins a Christian with others in loving
worship of God.
3. Brothers and Sisters. A Christian can also love God by beginning to openly share his
thoughts, experiences, gifts, and needs with other Christians. The first Christians quickly
gathered together into a loving spiritual family: "Now the company of those who believed were
of one heart and soul, and no one said any of the things which he possessed was his own but
they had everything in common’ (Acts 4:32). In the same way, Christians today express their
love of God by relating to each other with trust, affection, and commitment.
4. Scripture. In prayer a Christian both speaks decisions reveals his values and priorities.
Those Christians who have surrendered their lives totally to God will ask “What does God want
me to do? How can | most please the Lord?" Loving God includes making decisions according to
His will.
5. Money. Another way to love God is using one's financial resources to serve His
kingdom. Loving God involves surrendering everything into His hands - including money and
possessions. Two specific ways that a Christian can use his money to serve God's kingdom are
the practices of tithing and almsgiving. Tithing is the traditional Christian practice of
contributing one-tenth of one's personal income to the Church. Almsgiving is the practice of
giving money to the poor and needy. A Christian should also take responsibility for the financial
needs of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Wise and generous handling of money is a concrete
way of expressing a loving commitment to God.
6. Use of Time. Since men often guard their time more jealously than their money,
surrendering one's time and energy to God is another way to love Him. Christians should not
spend all their free time on personal leisures and recreations. They should invest some of their
time in Christian services - whether in the body of Christ, the family, or directly to non-
Christians.
7. Decisions. A person's method of making decisions reveals his values and priorities.
Those Christians who have surrendered their lives totally to God will ask “What does God want
me to do? How can | most please the Lord?" Loving God includes making decisions according to
His will.
LOVE OF OURSELVES
We must love ourselves because:
1. God wishes and requires it.
2. We are made after God’s image.
3. We are redeemed by the blood of Christ.
4. By the merits of Jesus Christ we are made children of God and temples of the Holy
Spirit.
5. We are destined to live eternally with God and the angels in heaven.
In what consists True Love of self?
True love of self consists in avoiding sin and practicing virtue.
1. We must first assure our eternal salvation, before we attend to earthly things which
are but means to our last end.
2. We should care more for our soul than for the ease of our body. If we lose our soul,
we lose everything.
 3. It is against true love of self to strive only after earthly possessions and honors and
neglect eternal salvation.
Does love of self include love of the body?
Love of self includes love of the body, for our body is a gift of God, that we should treat
as such. We should have the greatest respect and reverence of our body. We do not love our
body when we indulge it in vanity, or too much comfort or by gratifying its every passion.
Does true love of self also includes care for one's reputation and temporal goods?
True love of self also ordinarily includes care for one’s reputation and temporal goods. A
good reputation is a precious possession. Temporal goods are used as a means for obtaining
spiritual riches.
LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOR
We must love our neighbor because:
1. God commands it.
2. Our neighbor is a child of God
3. Our neighbor is our brother.
How should we love our neighbor?
We should love our neighbor as ourselves, for God's sake.
To love our neighbor as ourselves means to have for him the same kind, although not
the same degree of love that we have for ourselves.
It is not enough, in order to practice love of neighbor, to feel kind and affectionate
towards him; our love must be practical, aimed at doing our neighbor good spiritually as well as
materially.
To love our neighbor for God's sake means to love him as the child of God, that is,
because he is loved by God and created for the eternal possession of God. This supernatural
love is Charity.
True love of God makes us love even disagreeable people, without reference to their
love for us. It makes us love the poor, the unfortunate, the suffering, the repulsive, and even
our enemies, just because God loves them, and wishes us to love them.
LOVE OF OUR ENEMIES
We must love our enemies because:
1. Christ commands it.
 2. Christ has given us the supreme example.
3. We ask God to forgive us.
We show love for our enemies in many ways:
1. We should not take revenge on them
2. We should return good for evil
3. If anyone offends us and comes to ask our pardon, we must receive him kindly and
not be proud and unforgiving. If we offend any one, we should beg his pardon at once.
4. When we are seriously injured, as in our property, honor, or reputation, we are not
forbidden to claim our just rights before lawful authority. Often justice requires us to do this, in
order to prevent greater abuses.
5. Love of enemies is a duty of nations, as well as of individuals. Cruelty in war is sinful.
6. These are some practical ways of loving our enemies:
a. to pray for them
b. to respect their rights
c. to avoid uncharitable thoughts and words about them
d. to show good manners towards them
e. to do them a good in return whenever possible.
How should we love our Friends?
We should love our friends loyally, and in the sight of God. True friendship is always
based on the love of God.
What must we do to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves?
To love God, our neighbor, and ourselves, we must keep the commandments of God
and of the Church, and perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy:
1. To feed the hungry.
2. To give drink to the thirsty.
3. To clothe the naked.
4. To visit the imprisoned.
5. To shelter the homeless.
6. To visit the sick.
7. To bury the dead.
The Seven Chief Spiritual Works of Mercy:
1. To admonish the sinner.
2. To instruct the ignorant.
3. To counsel the doubtful.
4. To comfort the sorrowful.
5. To bear wrong patiently.
6. To forgive all injuries.
7. To pray for the living and the dead.