原文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，在今天的福音中，法利塞人质问耶稣法律中哪一条诫命最大。耶稣回答说我们必须用尽所有能力去爱天主。但是爱天主到底意味着什么？

 

克勒窝的圣伯纳德对此很有帮助。他说精神生活的目标在于仅仅为了天主而独爱天主。显然，与独爱天主对抗的东西甚多——钱、性、权势和享乐。但伯纳德意识到即使天主是我唯一的生活核心，我也未必真正仅仅是为了天主而爱天主。我可能是在利用祂。

 

他作出了一点有建设性的区分。他说奴隶对其主人有某种爱，但并非真正的爱，因为这种爱更像是恐惧。把这个观点应用于精神生活是颇有收益的。很多人声称自己爱天主，其实是畏惧天主。祂会怎样对付我？我若犯错，就会受罚。这种态度离爱甚远。

 

Friends, in today's Gospel some Pharisees challenge Jesus to answer which commandment of the law is the greatest. Jesus responds that every power, every capacity in us must be given over to the love of God. But what exactly does it mean to love God?

 

St. Bernard of Clairvaux is helpful here. He said that the goal of the spiritual life is to love God alone, for the sake of God alone. Obviously, there are many things that compete for the love of God alone—money, sex, power, pleasure. But what Bernard saw is that even if God alone is the center of my life, I still might not be truly loving him for his sake alone. I might be using him.

 

He makes a helpful little distinction. He says that a slave has a kind of love for his master, but it is not truly love, for it is much more like fear. This can be very helpfully applied to the spiritual life. Many people who claim they love God, really fear him. What might he do to me? If I don't do the right things, I will be punished. Such attitudes are a long way from love.