“If you love me you will keep my commandments”
We sometimes hear it said that so-and-so is “a good Christian”. What does that mean? How does it differ from being “a good person”? In the gospel today Jesus repeats that proof of our love for Him is in keeping His commandments. When asked by a lawyer (Luke 10:27) what is the greatest commandment in the Law He gives a simple answer: Love God; love your neighbour. Since there are only two 'rules' that should make it easy to be “a good Christian”, right? Wrong! It is in the fine print, the t's and c's, that the hard stuff lies. I am to love God with all my heart and soul and strength and I am to love my neighbour as myself.
In the Second Reading from St Peter the author talks about “living a good life in Christ”. So where do we go in the Scriptures to find out how to make our lives not only “good” but also “in Christ”? The old Law, although “holy and spiritual is imperfect.”[CCC 1963] The new Law of the Gospel is best expressed in Christ's Sermon on the Mount. St Augustine says that the faithful will find in the Beatitudes “the perfect way of the Christian life (for they) contain all the precepts needed to shape one's life”. The blessings – for the poor and the gentle, for the merciful and the sorrowful – mark out “the surprising ways of the Kingdom”.[CCC 1967]
Such values require a conversion of the heart. To love God and our neighbour in the right way we need a Teacher. St John in the gospel today tells us we are not “orphans”. First, we possess what he calls “the Spirit of Truth”, the divine indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Second, we have others who are rich in spiritual love and good works. We go to church not only to learn the surprising ways of the Kingdom but also to be witnessed to by the faithful. Think of the food basket (feed the hungry), the winter thermals collection (clothe the naked), communion to the housebound (visit the sick). These people are modelling for us the new Law of the gospel.
The mission statement of the Catholic Parish of Hastings is bold enough to claim that we are “Living as Christ”. Are we? Are you? Here's a test. If you were arrested today on suspicion of being “a good Christian” would there be enough evidence to convict you?
— GM