1. This is my commandment: love one another as I
have loved you.” (Jn 15:12)
“This is how all will know you for my
disciples: your love for one another.” (Jn
13:35)
2. Three conclusions which are often drawn by different people:
1. Those who think they can fulfill the two great Love
Commandments by prayer, devotions, and religious
observance. (1 Jn 4:21)
-how “expressing our faith through deeds of justice and love is
particularly urgent in the Philippines where the exercise of faith
often seems to be restricted to the realm of religious activities and
private morality” (PCP II 80)
2. I love God by loving my neighbor. (1 Cor 1:9)
3. “I know it is a sin, but I love him/her so much.” (1 Jn 3:16)
3. 1. Our genuine human love is a participation in God’s love. (1
Jn 4:10)
2. Through Christ and the Spirit, God is really present in both
our neighbor’s and our very own loving. (1 Jn 4:12)
3. Our explicit love of God clearly brings out our deepest love
of neighbor.
4. But...
However...
-By loving our neighbor and offering them help, we travel
with them toward God.
-For by loving one’s neighbor, one loves Christ, because all
are members of Christ’s Body. But in loving Christ, the Son
of God, one also loves the Father.
5. 1. It is always going beyond itself, always aspiring to
greater love.
2. It is this radical and unconditional aspect within
our human love of neighbor that reaches out to
God Himself.
3. It also shows up the error of “loving” another
only as a means for loving God.
6. “ Love one another as I have loved you.”
-This “ love command,” therefore, is not about some
spontaneous emotive reaction, an affective “liking.” Rather, it
refers to repeated acts of will responding to the Christian
vocation of following Christ.
This Christian love command is not just one criterion, one
principle of action, among many. Rather it constitutes
the central command of the sovereign Lord and his
proclamation of the Kingdom.
The love command reveals the presence of God’s love
within ours.
The love command creates a community of love called to
responsible service of one another.
7. But there is a problem. How do we live it?
It involves two problems:
1. motivation
2. ways and means of loving
Possible Motivations:
1. Some Christians are morally motivated by sincere
obedience to the Law.
2. They are focusing on their final goal and destiny as the
basis for their moral action.
3. following the basic approach of this Catechism, fixes on
the following of Christ in daily life.
4. An active prayer and sacramental life is needed.
8. According to:
1.) Acts 10:38
2.) Lk 4:18 Thus, Jesus defined his mission
3.) Lk 7:22 in terms of service to his people
In relating to others, Jesus had many close friends like his beloved
disciple, Lazarus, Martha and Mary.
Some examples:
1. Matthew, the tax collector(cf. Lk 6:27 ff
2. Zacchaeus, the loan shark (cf. Lk 19:1ff
3. Mary Magdalene, the public sinner(cf. Mk 16:9)
4. Bartimaeus, the blind beggar (cf. Mk 10:46ff)
5. the ten lepers (cf. Lk 17:11ff);
6. the paralytic at the pool (cf. Jn 5:1ff)
7. the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (cf. Jn 4:ff
9. - “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 19:19)
-But Jesus removed all limits to those whom we are called to love, even
commanding “Love your enemies” (Mt 5:44).
- He upturned the accepted social priorities in his parable of the “Good
Samaritan” (cf. Lk 10:29-37)
-Christ gave his own “new” commandment: “This is my commandment:
love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12).
B.) effect on his Disciples
1.) desire for an ever more intense and total union with Christ their
Lord
2.) their desire to spread the Good News to others.
10. C.) community Built
-One social result of being drawn to Christ was the
natural desire of the disciples to seek out the
company of fellow disciples of Christ, thus
creating the first Christian communities.
- We develop truly “Christian” moral and spiritual
lives in the process of learning“how to become
Church.”
- We thus have a part in the other’s ongoing
process of conversion and transformation that is
inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
11. Thefirst truth is surely the fact that all “others,” like
oneself, are created in the image and likeness of God.
Secondly, Christ died for all and wishes to dwell
within all through his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love.
Thirdly, the missions of Son and Spirit, sent by the Father, reveal in
the sharpest way possible, the Father’s great love for each and
everyone.
Fourthly, the Father’s totally gratuitous love not only
further dignifies all “others,” but also touches each of us
personally, so we are called to imitate this love
Finally, we are to love others because it is commanded
by Christ our Lord “from whom all good things come”
12. Christian moral tradition has presented at least two major ways of
exercising neighborly love:
1. Corporal and spiritual
works of mercy
2. Moral Virtues
Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy- The corporal works of mercy
are drawn from St. Matthew’s account of the Last Judgment (cf. Mt
25:35f; 42f). They are usually listed as follows: to feed the hungry, give
drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit those in
prison, visit the sick, and bury the dead
Spiritual Works of Mercy- These are listed as follows: to instruct the
ignorant, admonish the sinner, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful,
bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and the
dead
14. The second approach views Christian morality in terms of a specific
Christ-centered vision, developed in terms
of character and virtues, and grounded in the Gospel story.
The third approach, the most widespread today, focuses on the life cycle of the
person, aligning the development of moral life with the process of bodily and
psychological development in society.
15. APPLICATION QUIZ
Sagutin ang mga sumusunod na sitwasyon batay sa
inyong kalooban. 5 puntos ang bawat isa. (10 x 2= 20 pts.)
1. Bakit ang mga tao ay hindi dinadaan sa
mapayapang paraan ang isang alitan o iringan at
dinadaan nila ito sa sakitan? (Juan 15:12) (Mateo 19:19)
2. May karanasan ka ba sa buhay mo na kung saan ay
nakipagsakitan ka sa iyong kaaway? Paano mo ito
nalagpasan? May kapatawaran bang naganap sa
pagitan mo at ng iyong kaaway? Patunayan. (Mateo
5:44)
