Another effect of charity is that it causes illumination of the heart. As Job (37:19) says: “We are all wrapped in darkness.” For we often do not know what to do or desire. But charity teaches everything necessary for salvation. Therefore it is said (1 Jn 2:27): “His anointing teaches you about everything.” And that is because where there is charity, there there is the Holy Spirit, who knows everything and leads us onto the right way, as said in Psalm 142. Therefore it is said (Sir 2:10 Vulgate): “You who fear God, love him, and your hearts will be enlightened,” that is, to know what is necessary for salvation.
Another effect of charity is to produce perfect joy in man. For no one really has joy without being in charity. For anyone who desires something is not happy or joyful or satisfied until he gets it. In temporal things something not possessed can be desired, but when possessed it can be despised and cause boredom. But that is not so in spiritual things, for one who loves God has him, and therefore the spirit of one who loves and desires him is satisfied in him. For “whoever remains in charity remains in God and God in him,” as is said in 1 John 4:16.
Another effect of charity is perfect peace. Temporal things can often be desired, but when they are possessed, the spirit of the one who desired them is not satisfied, but after getting one thing, he desires another (Is 57:20): “The heart of the wicked man is like a rough ocean which cannot be quiet.” And ( ibid ): “There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord.” But that does not happen with love of God. For whoever loves God has perfect peace (Ps 118:165): “Great peace to those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.” And that is because only God can fill our desire. For God is greater than our heart, as the Apostle says, and therefore Augustine says in Book I of his Confessions : “You made us for you, Lord, and our heart is not at rest until it rests in you.” And (Ps 102:5): “He fills your desire with good things.”
Another effect of charity is to give man great dignity. For all creatures serve the divine majesty— since they were all made by him—as manufactured goods serve their maker. But charity turns a slave into a free man and friend. So the Lord said to the Apostles (Jn 15:15), “I no longer call you slaves/servants... but friends.” But was Paul not a slave, like he other Apostles who described themselves that way? In answer, we must distinguish two kinds of servitude. The first is that of fear, and that is painful and no meritorious. For anyone who refrains from sin only because of fear of punishment does not merit because of this, but is still a slave. The second kind of servitude is that of love. If someone acts not from fear of judgment but from divine love, he is not acting like a slave, but like a free man, because he does so voluntarily. Therefor he says: “I no longer call you slaves.” And why? the Apostle answers (Rm 8:15): “You did not receive the spirit of servitude again in fear, but you received the spirit of adoption of children.” For there is no fear in charity, as is said (1 Jn 14), since fear is penal, but charity makes us not only free people but also sons, so that we can be called and be sons of God, as it is said (1 Jn 3). For an outsider becomes the adopted son of someone when he acquires a right to his property. So also charity acquires for us a right to the inheritance of God, which is eternal life, because, as it is said (Rm 8:16-17): “The Spirit himself gives testimony to our spirits that we are the sons of God. And if we are sons, we are also heirs, heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ.” And (Wis 5:5): “See how they are numbered among the sons of God.”
How to get and increase charity
So much for the benefits of charity. It now remains to work hard to acquire it and hold onto it. But we must realize that no one can possess charity on his own, but it is the gift of God alone. So John says (1 Jn 4:10): “Not as if we loved God, but he first loved us.” That is, he does not love us because we first loved him, but the fact that we love him is brought about in us by his love. We should also realize that, although all gifts are from the Father of lights, that gift of charity surpasses all other gifts. For all the others can be had without charity and the Holy Spirit, but with charity the Holy Spirit necessarily must also be had. The Apostle says (Rm 5:5): “The charity of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Whether we talk of the gift of tongues or of knowledge or of prophecy, any of them can be had without grace and the Holy Spirit.
In spite of the fact that charity is a divine gift, to possess it requires a disposition on our part. So it should be known that there are two requisites for acquiring charity and two others for increasing the charity one already possesses. This is clear from human experience. For if we hear good things about someone, we are fired up to love him. So when we hear the words of God, we are fired up to love him (Ps 98:140): “Your word is fire-tested, and your servant loves it.” Likewise (Ps 104:19): “The word of the Lord fire-tested him.” Therefore the two disciples, burning with divine love, said (Lk 24:32): “Weren’t our hearts burning within us when he spoke on the way and opened the Scripture for us?” And in Acts 10 it is written that while Peter preached the Holy Spirit fell on those listening to the divine word. And it often happens in preaching that those who come with a hard heart are fired with divine love because of the preaching message.
The second requisite is continual thinking about good things (Ps 38:4): “My heart became hot within me.” So if you want to acquire divine love, meditate on good things. Someone would have to be very hard if, after thinking about the divine favors he received, the dangers he avoided and the happiness promised him by God, he is not fired with divine love. Augustine said: “It would take a hard-hearted man who, even if he doesn’t want to show love, would refuse to repay it.” And on a general level, just as bad thoughts destroy charity, so good thoughts acquire, nourish and conserve it. So we are commanded (Is 1:16): “Remove the evil of your doings [Vulgate: thoughts] from my sight. And (Wis 1:3): “Perverse thoughts separate one from God.”
There are two other factors that increase the charity one already has. The first is the heart’s separation from earthly things. For the heart cannot be perfectly directed towards disparate things. So no one can love God and the world. Therefore, the more our heart is removed from love of earthly things, the more it is settled in divine love. So Augustine says in the Book of 83 Questions : “What poisons charity is the hope of gaining or retaining temporal things. What nourishes it is the diminishing of cupidity. What perfects it is the elimination of cupidity, because the root of all evils is cupidity.” So whoever wants to nourish his charity should concentrate on reducing cupidity. Cupidity is the love of acquiring or receiving temporal things. The beginning of reducing it is to fear the Lord. He alone cannot be feared without some love. And this is the reason religious orders were instituted, so that in and through them the human heart can be drawn away from earthly and corruptible things and lifted up to divine things. This is symbolized in the passage (2 Mac 1:22): “The sun shone, which previously had been under a cloud.” The sun, that is, the human intellect, is under a cloud when it is fastened on earthly things, but it shines out when it is removed and taken away from the love of earthly things. Then it shines, and then divine love grows in it.
The second factor helping love to grow is firm patience in adversity. For it is clear that when we carry heavy burdens for the sake of the one we love, love itself is not destroyed, but rather grows (Sg 8:7): “Many waters,” that is, many tribulations, “could not extinguish charity.” And therefore holy men who put up with adversities for the sake of God and more firmly rooted in his love, just as a craftsman loves more the work he put more effort into. And that is why the more sufferings the faithful endure for God’s sake, the more they are raised high in his love (Gen 7:17): “The waters”, that is, tribulations, “multiplied and the ark”, that is, the Church or the soul of the just man, was lifted high.”
ARTICLE 1
Love of God
Before his passion, the doctors of the Law asked Christ which was the greatest and first commandment. He said (Mt 22:37): “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind; this is the greatest and first commandment.” And that is truly the greatest, most noble and most beneficial of all the commandments, as has adequately been shown. For in this commandment all the other commandments are fulfilled.
But to fulfill this commandment of love perfectly, four things are required. The first is the recollection of the divine benefits, because all that we have, whether our soul or body or exterior things, we have them all from God. Therefore we must serve him with all this and love him with a perfect heart. A man would be extremely ungrateful if, after thinking of all the benefits he received from someone, he did not love him. With this in mind, David said (1 Chron 29:14): “All belongs to you. What we received from you we give to you.” Therefore in his praise it is said (Sir 47:10): “With all his heart he praised the Lord, and loved the God who made him.”
The second is consideration of the divine excellence. For God is greater than our hearts (1 Jn 3); so if we serve him with our whole heart and strength we still fall short (Sir. 43:32-33): “When you praise the Lord, exalt him as much as you can, for he will surpass even that. When you exalt him put forth all your strength and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.”
The third is renunciation of worldly and earthly things. For it is a big offense against God to equate him with anything else (Is 40:18): “To whom can you compare God?” We liken other things to God when we love temporal and corruptible things along with God. But this is altogether impossible. So it is said (Is 28:20): “The bed is too short to stretch out in it, and the covering is too short to wrap oneself in it.” There the heart of man is compared to a cramped bed and a short cover. For the human heart is cramped with regard to God, so that when you take into your heart things other than him you push him out. for he cannot endure any bed-fellow in the soul, just like a husband with a wife. And so he himself states (Ex 20:5): “I, Yahweh your God am a jealous God.” For he does not want us to love anything as much as him or besides him.
The fourth is complete avoidance of sin. For no one can love God when he is living in sin (Mt 6:24): “You cannot serve God and mammon.” So, if you are living in sin, you do not love God. But that man loved God who said (Is 38:3): “Remember how I walked before you faithfully with a perfect heart.” Also Elijah said (1 Kg 18:21): “For how long will you go on limping with two opinions?” As a lame person bends this way and that, so a sinner wavers between sinning and seeking God. Therefore the Lord said (Joel 2:12): “Turn to me with all your heart.”
But against that command, two kinds of people sin: (1) those who avoid one kind of sin, such as unchastity, while falling into another, such as usury. But they are still condemned, because “whoever offends in one point is guilty of breaking the whole law” (Jm 2:10). (2) Then there are those who confess some sins, and others not, or they split their confession between two or more confessors. But these do not merit, and rather sin by doing so, because they intend to deceive God and they are making a rift in the sacrament.
Against the first group someone said, “It is unholy to hope for half-pardon from God.” As for the second group (Ps 61:9): “Pour out your hearts before him,” because in confession all is to be revealed.
It has now been shown that man must give himself to God. Now we have to see what is in him that he owes to God. Man owes God four things: his heart, his soul, his mind and his strength. And so it is said (Mt 22:37): “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength.” The “heart” here stands for intention. Intention has the power of drawing all actions under its sway, so that any good works done with a bad intention are turned into bad works (Lk 11:34): “If your eye”, that is, your intention, “is evil, your whole body will be dark;” that is, the totality of your good works will be dark. Therefore, in whatever we do our intention should be set on God. The Apostle says (1 Cor 10:31): “Whether you eat or drink or do any other thing, do all for the glory of God.”
But a good intention is not enough, but there must also be a good will, which is indicated by the term “soul”. For it often happens that someone acts with a good intention, but to no avail, because a good will is missing. For example, someone may steal to feed the poor; his intention is right, but he is lacking the requisite good will. So no evil can be excused because it is done with a good intention (Rm 3:8): “Those who [say we] say ‘Let us do evil so that good may come’ are justly condemned.” A good will accompanies an intention when the will itself harmonizes with the divine will, and that we ask every day: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And (Ps 39:9): “I delight to do your will, my God.” That is why it is said “with all your soul.” For the soul is often used in Scripture for the will, as in (Heb 10:38): “If he shrinks back, my soul”, that is, my will, “has no pleasure in him.”
But sometimes a good intention and good will are present, but there is some sin in the intellect. Therefore the whole intellect must be given to God. The Apostle says (2 Cor 10:5): “taking every intellect [thought] captive to obey Christ.” For many do not sin by deed, but they like to think much about sins. Against them it is said (Is 1:16): “Remove the evil of your thoughts [deeds].” There are also many who trust in their own wisdom and refuse to accept the Faith; such are not giving their minds to God. Against them it is said (Prov 3:5): “Do not rely on your own perception.”
But that is not enough. One must give God all one’s power and strength (Ps 58:10 Vulgate): “I will guard my strength with you.” For there are some who use their strength to sin, thereby displaying their power. Against these it is said (Is 5:22): “Woe to you who are heroes at drinking wine, valiant men at mixing strong drink.” Others show their power or strength to hurt their neighbors, whereas they should have displayed it by helping them (Prov 24:11): “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.”
So to love God, the following must be given to God: intention, will, mind and strength.
ARTICLE 2