Beauty and...

As we continue through the first letter of Saint John in this week’s first readings, we continue to luxuriate in the beauty of the words he writes for us:

Beloved,
we love God because
he first loved us.

(Ah, how wonderful.)

If anyone says,
“I love God,”
but hates his brother,
he is a
LIAR;

(Wow! Where did that come from?)

for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.

We need to take this very seriously, for too many of us profess the love of God and the (at least theoretical) love of neighbor and yet are full of anger, resentment, envy, and sometimes outright hate for some of our fellow human beings (and even our brothers and sisters in Christ).

This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.