ST. JOHN POPOVICH OF SERBIA WHEN DO WE TRULY SHOW LOVE FOR OUR FELLOW MAN

            The worst thing that mankind has to face in life is death: that is for a person to return to the elements and to be eaten by the worms.  In looking at what happens to us, is it worth it for us to become living beings?  Why should I love you God, for tomorrow I will be eaten by the worms and return to the earth?  In spite of these horrible things, this is why we should love God.  The Lord Jesus Christ saves us from death through His resurrection.  He grants eternal life to our bodies and to our souls. And when our bodies are raised from the dead with the Divine Light of God they are again united with our souls. 

            It is for these reasons that the Lord Jesus Christ is proclaimed the most man-loving Person in the universe.  He is the only One who from the creation of the universe to the final judgment of mankind offers us eternal life.  Only He who defeated death is the only man-loving philanthropist in the universe. All other things in our existence are transient.  In comparison to this gift of life all cultures, all civilizations, all sciences and all arts are a joke.  This is the reality of our existence for what can technology and science do for us other than to eventually surrender us to death?

            Jesus Christ is the only true lover of mankind, for He frees us from sin, from death and from the clutches of Satan.  The devil is the discoverer of sin and evil that comes from it.  The love of Jesus toward humanity is our deliverance from death.  The second great commandment says:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:39).     

            When is it that we truly love our fellow man?  It is when we deliver him from the clutches of sin and damnation.  This is genuine love toward our fellow man.  A person fools himself when he thinks he loves his fellow man while approving of his sinful lifestyle and justifies his indulging in the passions.  Instead of loving this person he fosters his death.   

            A person truly loves his fellow man with all his soul and with all his strength when he does this through Jesus Christ.  Some may ask:  what is the love that exists between parents and their children, between a married couple and the love of a man for his country?  Aren’t these expressions of love?  We look upon all these things as love but is this truly so? 

            All of these expressions of love do not contain a trace of love if Christ does not give us the power to love this way.  If a father does not love his children with the love of Jesus, if a father does not train up his children in the way of goodness, if a father does not lead his children in the paths of righteousness, if a father does not teach his children to save themselves from sin but only pampers them and flatters them, he in reality hates them and kills them.  Again, if a husband only lusts after his wife carnally, he becomes her murderer.  This is what happens to every earthly, carnal love.

Translated from the Greek by:

+Fr. Constantine J. Simones, Waterford, CT, USA, November 15^th, 2016, 860-460-9089, cjsimones300@gmail.com