Eugene reacts, in his private diary, to those who think only with their heads and not their hearts.<\/p>\n
He knew and loved Scripture, and in this text we see him freely using texts from the First Letter of John, chapters 3 and 4.<\/p>\n
\nAfter the coming of Jesus Christ, the example of Saint Peter, and the teachings of Saint John, they still present to us a type of perfection, more worthy of stoics than true Christians! Let us love God because of his infinite perfections, let us love him also because he first loved us, \u201cbut that he loved us first,<\/em>\u201d but \u201csince God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another\u201d<\/em>, <\/em>and notice well: \u201cLittle children, let us love, not in word or speech,\u201d<\/em> like all those who love with the head, \u201cbut in truth and action\u201d. <\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n
Oh! no! \u201cHe who does not love does not know God, for God is love\u201d<\/em>.<\/em> And to show that such love is not speculation and abstraction about a person, and it is so true that we must know how to love here below, in order to promise to love God for whom, in a true sense, we love his creatures, that the Apostle tells us: “for those who do not love a brother whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.”<\/em> <\/strong><\/h5>\n
There is no middle way: \u201cThe commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers<\/em>.\u201d <\/em>Let them study Saint John, let them delve into the heart of Saint Peter and his love for his divine master, let them especially examine everything that emanates from the so-loving heart of Jesus Christ, not only for all men, but especially his apostles and disciples, and then let anyone dare to come and preach to us a speculative love, deprived of sentiment and without affection!<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Eugene de Mazenod\u2019s Diary, 4 September 1837, EO XVIII<\/p>\n
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Eugene reacts, in his private diary, to those who think only with their heads and not their hearts. He knew and loved Scripture, and in this text we see him freely using texts from the First Letter of John, chapters … Continue reading