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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.

From: Luke 14:15-24

Parable of the Invited Guests

[15] When one of those who sat at table with Him (Jesus) heard this, he said
to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God!” [16] But
He said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; [17]
and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had
been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’ [18] But they all alike began to
make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go
out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ [19] And another said, ‘I have
bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me ex-
cused.’ [20] And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot
come.’ [21] So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the
householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and
lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ [22]
And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still
there is room.’ [23] And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the high-
ways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be
filled. [24] For I tell you, none of those who were invited shall taste my ban-
quet.’”

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Commentary:

15. In biblical language the expression “to eat bread in the Kingdom of God”
means sharing in eternal beatitude, of which this great banquet is a symbol
(cf. Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 22:1-4).

16-24. If God invites someone to know Him in faith, he should sacrifice any
human interest which gets in the way of replying to God’s call, no matter
how lawful and noble it be. The objections we tend to put forward, the duties
we appeal to, are really just excuses. This is why the ungrateful invitees are
blameworthy.

“Compel people to come in”: it is not a matter of forcing anyone’s freedom —
God does not want us to love Him under duress—but of helping a person to
make right decisions, to shrug off any human respect, to avoid occasions
of sin, to do what he can to discover the truth .... A person is “compelled to
come in” through prayer, the example of a Christian life, friendship—in a word,
apostolate. “If in order to save an earthly life it is praiseworthy to use force
to stop a man from committing suicide, are we not to be allowed use of the
same force — holy coercion — to save the Life (with a capital) of many who
are stupidly bent on killing their souls?” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 399).

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