The
entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us
to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote.
Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of
the Church, the Commandments, sacraments, sacramentals—all of it—are
finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn
us away from that path, they have been undermined.
Both
St. Paul and the Gospel writers—as well as Jesus himself, of course—are
intensely aware of this danger. This is precisely why Paul speaks of
the dangers of the law. He knew that people often use the law as a
weapon of aggression: since I know what is right and wrong in some
detail, then I am uniquely positioned to point out your flaws. And when I
point out your flaws, I elevate myself. In short, the
law, which is a gift from God, has been co-opted for the purposes of the
ego.
Reflect: How can pride stand in the way of love? Why does true humility encourage love?
Bishop Robert Barron
No comments:
Post a Comment