[Pearls Ep. 119 – Answering Atheism Tuesday.]
As we reflect on Jesus’ new commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” we noted that authentic love, divine love, desires the highest and best things for the other.
Great.
Who doesn’t want high and best things?
Let’s do it.
Sooooo, who’s got a copy of that list of all the highest and best things?
Just look at the world around us. There’s precious little agreement on highest and best things.
What one group considers highest and best another group considers moral roadkill.
Who’s the authority? The Supreme Court? Well, they’re the ones who said we have the right to “define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life” (in the infamous Obergefell decision). How about Congress? Ha ha ha ha ha.
This is the root cause of the pain and suffering of the secular world. The world chases and chases and chases after the whirl of fallen things, with an ever-moving target of “highest and best.” And in that confusion, the enemy of humanity more often than not deceives the world with the lowest and worst.
The One who reveals to us the highest and best things is the One who is the way and the truth and the life. But even then an authority is needed. When does life begin? Can a war be justified? Can two men marry? When does the earth stop being our dominion and become our idol? No easy questions those. Yes, the answers are in Sacred Scripture, but it’s easy to twist the Truth of scripture to the “narrative” we desire. We say with the Ethiopian – “how can we properly interpret scripture, unless someone instructs us?” (Acts 14:31) That “someone” is the Church through the Catholic religion.
That is why the enemy has worked to demonize the word “religion.” And that is why the protection of living out our faith is anchored in the “Freedom of Religion” not just the “freedom to worship” – as the secularists want to rebrand it.
Of course knowing what is highest and best is only half our challenge. The other half is knowing how to pursue it. Say, a loved one is going down a dark path. When is tough love appropriate? For how long do we patiently accompany them?
Pursuing the highest and best becomes a very personal matter. And that is why Faith is not so much about dogmas (although they’re important) as it is about Relationship with the One who is the way, the truth, and the life.
And now we come to the heart of why Jesus gave the new commandment to love, “as I have loved You.” For the same reason that He does everything – because He desires Relationship with us – He desires our heart. It is much more than a commandment – it is an invitation – because we can’t live up to the new commandment until we spend time with Jesus and ask Him questions like these:
“Lord, show me how you love me?”
“Last week, when I faced that challenge, how were you loving me then?”
“Lord, my child is making terrible choices. If you were me, how would you love them?”
And on, and on.
It is the testimony of every Saint who ever lived that when we ask enough of those questions, we will eventually find them all answered and simply be left with “Lord, I love you.”
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life