Neighbour

“I am sent not only to love God but to make Him loved. It is not enough for me to love God, if my neighbour does not love Him.” (Saint Vincent de Paul).

Father Damien (Photograph by William Brigham)

It is really hard to be compassionate with my neighbours.  It is one thing to think of this theoretically, and quite another to think of this as a breakdown of all the various inconsistencies and annoying little tendencies that cause me so much aggravation.

After all, loving my neighbour is a great concept in theory, and quite another thing altogether when my neighbour cuts in front of my in the traffic, or insists on parking in the premium spot in front of my home instead of parking in front of their own home…

The real sweat of it – the stench of humanity – really tends to interfere with all those theoretical ideas about honesty and integrity.  And yet, Saint Vincent de Paul – who worked with the poor – said, “I am sent not only to love God but to make Him loved. It is not enough for me to love God, if my neighbour does not love Him.”

And I have been reflecting on that today.  Matt Fradd writes in “How to Be Happy, Saint Thomas’ Secret to a Good Life” at page 63, “In God there is no difference between His goodness and His power. God is infinite being itself, and we have to make distinguishing categories in our minds in order to understand Him. But God is solely one perfect, simple act of being, or perfection. So, there is no way God can misuse His power for evil because He is, by definition, good...  We are fallen creatures, and because of this we need checks and balances to keep us from using our power to abuse others...The only being that can handle absolute power is that being Who is also absolute goodness by necessity, or God.”

And I have been reflecting on this as well.

Saint Damien Molokai was a Priest who volunteered to live among the lepers of Hawaii despite being unaffected by the disease.  Now, in the Western World, leprosy is not a terrible inconvenience to us.  It is treated with antibiotics and with our modern standards of hygiene it is relatively easy to prevent contamination and infection.  But in the developing world, and historically, the disease was little understood.  It spread and caused horrific disfigurement and eventually death.  And it smelled terrible to be around the infected wounds of a person who was infected with leprosy.  Saint Damien Molokai was able to interact with the affected bringing them God’s love.

Though he died a short time after moving to the colony, he was able to secure a brother, priest and some nuns to care for the sick before he died.  He considered this his life’s work and his calling.

And when I reflect on the extraordinary sacrifice of this Saint, it occurs to me that perhaps the most important part of what he achieved was to bring the love of God to the people so that they too – like Him – could love God…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.