Charity.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart. This is the greatest and the first commandment,
and the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” — St. Matt. 22:38
TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY.
Oh, when will that day come that will see us full of sweetness and tenderness for our neighbor? When shall we see the souls of our brothers in the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Whoever sees his neighbor outside of this Heart is in danger of not loving him purely, constantly, or with duration. But who would not love him is this furnace of love? Who would not be patient with him, bear with all his imperfections? Whom will we find unworthy of our love, when we know that this diving Heart burns with love for all? — St. Francis of Sales.
It was this love of his neighbor for and in the Heart of Jesus that made St. Francis of Sales so sweet, so affable, patient, and compassionate to all. The bishop of Belley one day remonstrated in a friendly was with him for showing him such honors: “Oh wat esteem has not Jesus Christ for you! I Honor Him in you.”
“I ought not to judge poor countrymen or women,” sand St. Vincent de Paul, “by their exterior — by their habits or manners. Some of them are s gross, so terrestrial, one can scarcely recognize in them the face or mind of a reasoning creature; but if we consider them by the light of faith, we shall find that they are so deeply engraven in the Heart of Jesus that He did not hesitate to shed His blood for them and to give His life for each one of them. Oh, how useful it is to see our neighbor in Jesus Christ, to do what He has done for him!”
Prayer.
O my Jesus, in Thy Sacred Heart will I regard the soul of my neighbor. There is not a single person for whom Thou hast not shed Thy blood; there is not one for whom I should hesitate to give mine.