Love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22: 39).
(http://www.domusviridis.org.uk/wol/1999/wol9910.htm)
Jesus in a heated debate with the theologians of His time, reassumes in the love of God with ones whole heart, soul and mind and in the love of neighbor as oneself, the greatest and the first of the commandments. How simple! Man finds in this double love his unity, the meaning of life, the fundamental style that gives eternal value to every little action.
But, if love is in our DNA and thus we can all love, it is also true that one must learn to love. To learn the art of loving is the most important and exciting job of life. Let us begin to train ourselves putting into practice that “as yourself”. Saint Frances de Sales used to say it like this: “Put yourselves always in the place of your neighbor and put your neighbor in your place, so you will judge well. When buying, imagine to be the one who sells and when selling to be the one who buys: in this way you will buy and sell fairly”.
Visit also: “The Hope of the World!” (http://trueevangelization.blogspot.com/2010/01/hope-of-world.html).
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An Experience of Life:
I was returning from “Gen Camp” in the bus. I wanted to make a visit to my parents and, not knowing much of the area, I asked for information from the passenger who was next to me. He rudely treated me like an ignoramus and I became angry. After this incident I remained silent, looking out the window. At a certain point I remembered what we proposed to ourselves during the Camp: to be new men who construct a new world. I had to change and re-begin from the top with this neighbor in the present moment. I mustered up the courage and I excused myself. Even he, surprised by my attitude, excused himself with me and after a little while he asked me who I might be. “I am a Christian”, I said to him. And he: “Now I understand the reason for your attitude; we Muslims are not used to excusing ourselves; I am happy to have met a Christian person.” From that moment the relationship changed totally. He too was going to the same city as me. When we arrived, he asked me where I was going and to my surprise he accompanied me in a “Tonga” (a type of cart drawn by horses), even paying for the ticked. When we took leave of each other, he embraced me and said that he was happy to have known a brother Christian. This experience of dialogue left in my heart the certainty that I too, together with the Persons of the Trinity and so many brothers and sisters, can build up a united world.
Shakeel, Pakistan
