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From: Romans 13:8-10

Love, the Fulfilling of the Law

[8] Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for who loves his neighbor
has fulfilled the law. [9] The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,
You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other com-
mandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law.

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Commentary:

8-10. To enable him to keep the Commandments of God perfectly, man receives
the interior influence of love of God and love of neighbor. For when love motivates
us we readily give what is due—and more besides—to him whom we love. In his
public preaching St John of Avila used to say—”Those of you who are unlettered
should not think that this means you cannot enter paradise, study these two
commandments, and when you have fulfilled them, realize that you have done
everything laid down in the Law and the Prophets, and everything taught by the
Gospel and by the Apostles and whatever you are admonished to do by all the
countless books that have been written, for the Lord has send his word to us in
(this) manifold form (cf. Rom 9:28)” (”Sermons”, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost).

The relationship between the virtues of charity and justice is similar to that be-
tween love and the commandments of the Law. “Be convinced that justice alone
is never enough to solve the great problems of mankind [...]. Charity must pene-
trate and accompany justice because it sweetens and deifies everything: ‘God
is love’ (1 Jn 4:16). Our motive in everything we do should be the Love of God,
which makes it easier for us to love our neighbor and which purifies and raises
all earthly loves on to a higher level [...]. Charity, which is like a generous over-
flowing of justice, demands first of all the fulfillment of one’s duty. The way to
start is to be just; the next step is to do what is most equitable...; but in order
to love, great refinement is required, and much thoughtfulness, and respect,
and kindliness” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 172-3).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.