Charity is non-negotiable

WHATEVER may be our differences and conflicts, even in the
most serious of cases, charity should never be sacrificed. We are
meant to love one another. This is a Christian principle that is spot
on. This has basis on what Christ himself said and did.

            “Love one another as I have loved you,” he commanded his
disciples. (Jn 13,34) And we know that his love for us went all the
way to giving up his life for us on the cross.

            In another instance, he also said to love even our
enemies. “Love your enemies,” he said, “bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you.” (Mt 5,44)

            Our enemies can be those who differ with us in our
political opinions, those who may have offended us in thoughts, words
and deeds, those who are foul-mouthed and make baseless and sweeping
accusations against us, etc. They can be those who are opposed with us
in terms of beliefs, ideologies, lifestyles, etc.

            Yes, all these we have to love if we are to follow Christ.
It’s not easy, of course, if we have to rely only on our human powers
and resources. But with God’s grace, neither is it hard. Nothing is
impossible if we correspond properly to the grace that God himself
gives us abundantly.

            We have to learn how to live this divine precept even as
we sort out our differences and conflicts, and pursue the requirements
of justice which is also needed. Charity does not make justice
obsolete, nor justice make charity out of place. But between the two,
charity has a more universal scope and a deeper reach.

            And that’s simply because charity involves the very being
of a person who has been created in the image and likeness of God. It
involves his very core, his heart and ultimate identity as a creature
and a child of God. It makes us see God in everyone, irrespective of
our differences and conflicts.

            Justice, on the other hand, involves only a person’s moral
actions, starting with his thoughts, then his words and deeds. It
appraises a person’s use of his freedom that can be right or wrong,
and for which he can be guilty or not in varying degrees.

            It does not mean that justice is not important. A man’s
moral actions can make or unmake him. But as to the ultimate judgment
as to how his moral actions affect his person, only God can do that.

            We obviously cannot do that since in spite of the many
data we may be able to gather with respect to a given case, we still
do not know everything as to warrant a sound judgment on one’s person.
There are just too many factors and conditionings for us to account
for to enable us to make a sound judgment of one’s person.

            Describing the complexity involved in knowing a person,
St. Augustine once said: “Man is a great deep, Lord. You number his
very hairs and they are not lost in your sight. But the hairs of his
head are easier to number than his affections and the movements of his
heart.”

            We have to learn how to be charitable always even amid our
differences and conflicts. This means that we have to learn to see
Christ in everyone, including those with whom we may have serious
differences. We have to go beyond seeing others in a purely human way
without, of course, neglecting the human and natural in us.

            In short, we have to see others in a spiritual way, within
the framework of faith, hope and charity. Otherwise, we cannot avoid
getting entangled in our limited and conflict-prone earthly condition.
And no amount of human justice and humanitarianism can fully resolve
this predicament.

            Thus, we need to develop and hone our skills of looking at
others beyond the merely physical, social, economic, cultural,
political or ideological way. While these aspects are always to be
considered, we should not be trapped by them. Rather we have to
transcend them.

            We have to expand and deepen our attitudes towards others.
Are we willing to think always of them, keenly observant of how they
are? Are we moved to pray for them and to leap to their assistance
when the chance comes?

            Let’s remember that as St. Paul said, we have to “bear
each other’s burdens.” (Gal 6,2) Do we have that kind of outlook? Are
we quick to help others even to the point of inconveniencing
ourselves?