Love of God, Love of Neighbor / True Charity

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22: 34-40

Mark and Luke also all have similar passages.  We've all heard the many discourses on charity but none have been so revealing to the Love of God and Love of Neighbor as is found in the Volumes.  Charity is only true and perfected when done solely to please God.  Only in this way will it bear good and lasting fruit when it is stripped of everything else. 

 “My daughter, only then is Charity perfect when it is done for the sole purpose of pleasing Me; and only then is it called true Charity and is it recognized by Me, when it is stripped of everything.”

Vol. 2, May 12, 1899

If there is any self interest involved, in the giver and/or the receiver, Charity is not true and it produces smoke, blinding the eye and creating a void.  Then the fruit of this type of "charity" ends in nothing.

it seemed that He wanted to tell me something which wounded His Sacred Heart.  Finally, the last time He came, He told me:  “My daughter, true charity must be disinterested on the part of one who does it, and on the part of one who receives it.  If there is interest, that mud produces a smoke which blinds the mind, and prevents one from receiving the influence and the effects of divine charity.  This is why in many works that are done, even holy, in many charitable cares that are performed, one feels as though a void, and they do not receive the fruit of the charity they do.”
Vol. 4, July 31, 1902

I said: ‘My dear Life and my all Good, it is true that there are some bad rich people, but there are also some good ones, like the many devout ladies who give alms to the churches, and your priests who do so much good to all…’
“Ah! my daughter, keep quiet, and don’t touch this key, so very sorrowful for Me. I could say that I do not recognize these devout ladies. They give alms where they want, to obtain their intent, to hold people at their service; they spend even thousands of lire for those who sympathize with them, but then, where it is necessary, they do not deign to give a cent. Could I say that they do it for Me? Could I recognize these actions of theirs? You yourself can recognize whether they do it for Me from these signs – if they are ready for any bare necessity; if they do not differentiate by giving much where it is not so necessary, and refusing to give little where it is necessary. One can well say that there is no spirit of true charity or upright operating. So, my poor are put into oblivion also by these devout ladies. And the priests? Ah! my daughter – that is even worse. They do good to all?! You deceive yourself. They do good to the rich; they have time for the rich. By them also the poor are almost excluded; for the poor they have no time; for the poor they have not a word of comfort or help to tell them; they send them away, reaching the point of pretending they are ill. I could say that if the poor have moved away from the Sacraments, the priests have contributed to this, because they have always taken their time to confess them, and the poor grew tired and no longer came back. But then, if a rich person would show up, it is all the opposite: they would not hesitate one instant; time, words, comforts, help…, they would find anything for the rich. Could I say that the priests have a spirit of true charity, if they reach the point of picking the ones to whom they should listen? And what about the others? They either send them somewhere else, or oppress them so much, that if my grace did not help the poor in a special way, the poor would have been banished from my Church. True charity and upright spirit – only rarely do some priests have them, but as for the rest, I could say that these have departed from the earth.”
Vol. 8. June 31, 1908

A sign of true Charity is the love of the poor, from those for whom one can not hope for anything in return other than the love of God.  This kind of Charity, which begins in God and ends in God, bears good fruit.

 

“My daughter, the sign to know whether one has true charity is that he loves the poor. In fact, if he loves the rich and is available for them, he may do so because he hopes for something or obtains something, or because he is in sympathy with them, or because of their nobility, intelligence, eloquence, and even out of fear. But if he loves the poor, helps them, supports them, it is because he sees in them the image of God, therefore he does not look at roughness, ignorance, rudeness, misery. Through those miseries, as though through a glass, he sees God, from whom he hopes for everything; and so he loves them, helps them, consoles them as if he were doing it to God Himself. This is the good kind of true virtue, which begins from God and ends in God. On the other hand, that which begins from matter, produces matter and ends in matter. As bright and virtuous as charity may appear, if the divine touch is not felt, both the one who does it and the one who receives it become bothered, annoyed and tired, and if necessary, they even use it to commit defects.”
Vol. 8, September 2, 1908

We are indeed called to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind.  So if we are to love our neighbors as ourselves it can only be done for love of God in order for it to be true Charity.  Loving one's neighbor only because the image of God is in each person, anything outside of this is not true Charity and God himself states that he loves creatures because they are made in His image.  

As I was in my usual state, I was praying for certain needs of others, and blessed Jesus, moving in my interior, told me:  “For what purpose are you praying for these people?”  And I:  ‘Lord, and You, for what purpose did You love us?’  And He:  “I love you because you are my own thing, and when an object is one’s own, one feels compelled to love it – it is like a necessity.”  And I:  ‘Lord, I am praying for these people because they are your own thing, otherwise I would not have interested myself.’  And He, placing His hand on my forehead, almost pressing it, added:  “Ah, it is because they are my own thing!  This is how the love of neighbor is all right.”
Vol. 6, November 8, 1903

“My daughter, true charity is when, in doing good to his neighbor, one does it because he is my image.  All the charity that goes out of this sphere cannot be called charity.  If the soul wants the merit of charity she must never go out of this sphere of looking at my image in everything.  It is so true that true charity consists in this, that my very charity never goes out of this sphere.  I only love the creature because she is my image; and if by sin she deforms this image of mine, I no longer feel like loving her – on the contrary, I abhor her; and I only preserve plants and animals because they serve my images; and the creature must modify all of herself on the example of her Creator.”

Vol. 6, September 8, 1905

Even the concept of loving oneself has to be done only through the lens of the love of God.  If the creature thinks of itself it will think of it's miseries and weaknesses and become absorbed in itself.  One bad thought leads to another until the creature is as drowning in misery.  We are to keep our minds and thoughts on God and living in His Will, loving Him alone.  So that each good act will call the next and God Himself will burn our miseries in the furnace of His love.

 

Whence I continued to think of the birth of the little King Jesus, and I said to him:  “Dear Little Baby, tell me, what did you do when you saw so much human ingratitude to so much of your love?”
 
And Jesus:  “My daughter, if I had held account of human ingratitude to so much of my love, I would have taken the way to go to heaven from it; hence, I would have grieved and embittered my love and changed the feast into mourning.
“So do you want to know what I did in my greatest works in order to make them more beautiful?  With pomp and with the greater show of my love I put everything aside, human ingratitude, sins, miseries, weaknesses, and I gave the course to my greatest works, as if these (things) were not so.  If I had wanted to mind the evils of man, I would not have been able to work great works, nor put into field all my love; I would remain impeded, suffocated in my love.  Instead, in order to be free in my works and in order to make them how much more beautiful I can make them, I put everything aside, and if needs be I cover everything with my love, in a way that I don’t see but love and my Will, and thus I go ahead in my greater works and I do them as if no one had offended me.  Because for our glory nothing must be missing to the decorum, to the beauty and the greatness of our works.
“Therefore I would like that you also do not occupy yourself with your weaknesses and with your miseries and with your evils, because how much more one thinks of oneself, so much more one feels weak, so many more evils drown the poor creature, and the miseries tighten themselves stronger around her.  By thinking of them, weakness feeds weakness, and the poor creature goes falling more, the evils take more strength, (and) the miseries make her die of hunger; instead, with not thinking of them, by themselves they fade away.
“Instead, all to the contrary with good.  One good feeds the other good; one act of love calls the other love; one abandonment in my Volition makes one feel in oneself new divine life, so that the thought of good forms the food, the strength, in order to do the other good.  Therefore I want that your thought does not occupy itself with other than to love me and to live in my Will.  My love will burn your miseries and all your evils, and my Divine Volition will constitute himself (as) your life, and with your miseries he will make use of them in order to form the footstool where to erect his throne.”
Vol. 35, December 25, 1937

The more we strip ourselves of self love, not focusing on ourselves but focusing on God more and more, the more we acquire the knowledge of heaven and the love of God.  The reverse is also true that if the soul knows nothing of the supernatural and feels no love of God it is because she is filled with love of self and the pleasures of the world.

“The more the soul strips herself of natural things, the more of supernatural and divine things she acquires.  The more she strips herself of the love of self, the more of the love of God she acquires; the less she tires herself in knowing human sciences, in enjoying the pleasures of life, the more knowledge she acquires of the things of Heaven, of virtue, and the more she will enjoy them, as the bitter ones will convert into sweet.  In sum, these are all things that proceed at the same rate, in such a way that, if one feels nothing of the supernatural, if the love of God is extinguished in the soul, if one knows nothing about virtues and the things of Heaven, and finds no pleasure in them, then he knows reason very well.”
Vol. 5, August 3, 1903

This stripping can only happen when the soul is united to Grace continuously.  Otherwise death will accomplish this, but the first is a blessed death allowing them to cling to the eternal, letting go of that which is passing.

“And why, my daughter, can the soul, united to Grace, not do in advance everything that death must do to her nature?  That is, making it die in advance, for love of God, to everything to which it will have to die?  But only those who dwell continuously with my Grace come to have this blessed death, because by living with God it is easier for them to die to everything that is fleeting.

Vol. 6, May 9, 1905

This is so true that God does not even want the soul to think about herself or worry about possibly sinning.  Indeed doing so makes one stagnate on the way of sanctity.  Instead the soul should look at all things in the light of God, the pleasing and the mortifying as coming from God and as a distinct love of God for the soul.  And the soul is to take all of these things in life as love of God and return them all to God as love.  This purifies her, sanctifies her and she advances quickly without even noticing it. 

Having read about a soul who had scruples about everything, and who feared that everything might be sin, I was thinking to myself:  ‘And I? How lax I am!  I too would like to think that everything may be sin so as to be more attentive not to offend the Lord.’  Then, when blessed Jesus came, He told me:  “My daughter, this is nonsense, and the soul remains stuck on the path of sanctity, while true and solid sanctity consists of receiving anything which may happen to her or which she may be doing, be it even the most indifferent thing, as a specialty of divine love, just as it would be if she found a food enjoyable or disgusting.  A specialty of love in the enjoyment, thinking that it is Jesus that produces that enjoyment in the food, and that He loves her to the point of giving her pleasure even in material things.  A specialty of love in the disgust, thinking that He loves her so much as to produce that disgust for her in order to make her similar to Himself in mortification, giving her, Himself, a little coin that she can offer to Him.  A specialty of divine love if she is humiliated, if she is exalted, if she is healthy, if she is infirm, if she is poor or rich.  A specialty of love her breathing, her sight, her speech – everything, everything; and just as she must receive everything - everything as a specialty of divine love, she must give everything back to God as a special love of hers.  So, she must receive the wave of the love of God, and must give to God the wave of her love.  Oh, what a sanctifying bath is this wave of love!  It purifies her, it sanctifies her, it makes her advance without her realizing it; it is a life more of Heaven than of earth.  This is what I want from you.  Sin, and the thought of sin, must not exist in you.”

Vol. 7, January 5, 1907

This is the essence of true charity.  Doing all for God, receiving all from God, returning all to God.  God is always the focus, the purpose and the goal.  And just as fire converts everything it touches into fire so the creature is seen to possess true charity only when she converts all things into love of God.

Now I will say what Jesus had told me about charity: “My daughter, true charity, with its power, can convert all things into love. Look at fire: all varieties of wood and any other thing - it converts them all into fire; and if it did not have the power to convert everything into fire, it could not be given the name of true fire. The same for the soul: if she does not convert all things into love – both supernatural and natural things, joys and bitternesses, and everything that surrounds her – she cannot be said to possess true charity.” Now, as He was saying this, He let many flames come out of His Most Holy Heart, which filled Heaven and earth, and then, uniting together, formed one single flame. And He added: “Continuous flames of love come out of my Heart, and to some they bring love, to some pain, to some light, to others strength, etc. And because they come out from the center of the furnace of my love, even though they do different offices, since one is the purpose – to send love to the creature – they are all flames which, uniting together, form one single flame. The same for the creature: even though she does different things, the purpose must be love, so as to be able to make of her actions as many little flames which, uniting together, will form the great flame that will burn everything and will transform her completely into Me. Otherwise, she will not possess true charity.”

Vol. 15, June 15, 1923

Jesus explains how there are two types of fire.  Earthly fire, symbol of human love, is subject to limitations and is neither solid nor fixed, mixed with smoke it stings the eyes and it's light is limited.  The fire of the sun, symbol of divine love is fixed, immutable, gives to all without taking anything and illuminates all.  But God's love goes unrecognized and unrequited.  God longs for us to reciprocate His love for us with His same divine love.

 

This morning my always lovable Jesus came for just a little, and told me:

 

“My daughter, my love is symbolized by the sun.  The sun rises majestically, but while it rises, it is always fixed and never rises.  With its light it invades all the earth; with its heat it fecundates all plants; there is no eye which does not enjoy of it.  One could say that there is almost no good on earth which does not come from its beneficial influence.  How many things would not have life without it?  And yet, it does everything without clamor, without saying even a word, without demanding anything.  It gives no bother to anyone; on the contrary, it does not even take up any space on earth which, in turn, it invades with its light.  Men can do whatever they want with it; even more, while they enjoy the good of the sun, they pay no attention to it, and they keep it in their midst, unobserved.   

“Such is my love, symbolized by the sun.  Like majestic sun, it rises in the midst of all; there is no mind which is not irradiated by my light; there is no heart which does not feel my heat; there is no soul which is not embraced by my love.  More than sun, I am in the midst of all, but - ah! how few pay attention to Me.  I remain almost unobserved in their midst; I am not requited, and yet I continue to give light, heat and love.  If some soul pays attention to Me, I go mad, but without clamor, because, being solid, fixed, truthful, my love is not subject to weaknesses.

“Just so would I like your love for Me; and if it were so, you too would become sun for Me and for all, because true love possesses all the qualities of the sun.  On the other hand, a love which is not solid, fixed, truthful, is symbolized by earthly fire, which is subject to variations.  Its light is not capable of illuminating all; it is a very gloomy light, mixed with smoke.  Its heat is limited, and if it is not fed with wood, it dies down and turns into ash; and if the wood is green, it sputters and smokes.  Such are the souls who are not completely for Me, as my true lovers.  If they do a little bit of good, it is more clamor and smoke that comes out of their actions than light.  If they are not fed by some human bother - even under the aspect of sanctity, of conscience - they die down and become colder than ash.  Their characteristic is inconstancy:  now fire, now ash.”

Vol. 11, August 12, 1912

God Himself teaches mankind how he should love Him.  Creation is none other than the outpouring of the Divine Being, this is His love for His creature.  Creation teaches man about the love of God for man and how man should love God in return.

“Charity.  Charity is nothing but an outpouring of the Divine Being, and this outpouring I have diffused over the whole Creation, in such a way that all Creation speaks of the love I have for man, and all Creation teaches him how He must love Me - from the largest being to the most tiny little flower in the field. 
“See”, it says to man, “with my sweet fragrance and by always facing the sky, I try to send an homage to my Creator.  You too, let all your actions be fragrant, holy, pure; do not offend my Creator with the bad odor of your actions.  O please, o man”, the little flower repeats to us, “don’t be so senseless as to keep your eyes fixed on the earth; but rather, raise them up to Heaven.  See, up there is your destiny, your fatherland – up there is my Creator and yours who awaits you.”
The water that flows continuously before our eyes also says to us:  “See, I have come out of darkness, and I must flow and run so much until I go and bury myself in the place from which I came.  You too, O man, run - but run into the bosom of God, from which you came.  O please! I beg you, do not run along the wrong paths, the paths which lead to the precipice; otherwise - woe to you!”
Even the wildest animals repeat to us:  “See, O man, how wild you must be for all that is not God.  See, when we see that someone is approaching us, with our roars we strike so much fear that no one dares to come close to us any more, to disturb our solitude.  You too, when the stench of earthly things - that is, your violent passions – are about to make you muddy and fall into the abyss of sins, with the roars of your prayers and by withdrawing from the occasions in which you find yourself, you will be safe from any danger.”  And so with all the other beings – it would take too long to tell them all.  With one voice they resound among themselves, and repeat to us:  “See, O man, our Creator made us for love of you, and we are all at your service.  And you, don’t be so ungrateful – love, we beg you; love, we repeat to you; love our Creator.”
After this, my lovable Jesus told me:  “This is all I want:  love God and your neighbor for love of Me.  See how much I have loved man – and he is so ungrateful. 
Vol. 2, March 13, 1899

“Indeed, my daughter, my love poured out in torrents toward the creature in each created thing.  I told you somewhere else, I confirm to you now, that as my uncreated love created the sun, it placed in it oceans of love.  And in each drop of light that was to inundate the eye, the step, the hand, and everything of the creature, my love ran within it; and almost pounding sweetly upon the eye, the hand, the step, the mouth, it gives her my eternal kiss and it holds out my love to her.  Together with the light runs the heat, and pounding on her a little more strongly, almost impatient for the love of the creature, to the point of pelting her, I repeat to her, more strongly, my eternal ‘I love you.’  And if the sun, with its light and heat, fecundates the plants, it is my love that runs for the nourishment of man; and if I extended a heaven above man’s head, studding it with stars, it was my love that, wanting to delight man’s eye, also at night, spoke to him my ‘I love you’ in each sparkling of star.  So, each created thing holds out my love to man; and if it were not so, Creation would have no purpose; and I do nothing without purpose.  Everything was made for man; but man does not recognize it, and he has turned into sorrow for Me.

“Therefore, my daughter, if you want to soothe my sorrow, come often into my Will, and, in the name of all, give Me adoration, love, gratitude and thanksgiving for all.”

 Vol. 12, January 9, 1920

Now is we are to love God and God alone and our neighbor for the love of God, how are we to do this.  Jesus states that as Creation teaches man how he should love God so the Redemption teaches him how he should love his neighbor.

“My daughter, the heavens along with all Creation point out the love of God; my wounded Body points out the love of neighbor, so much so, that with my Humanity, united to my Divinity, from two natures I formed one and I rendered them inseparable, because I not only satisfied divine Justice, but I operated the salvation of men.  And so that everyone assumed this obligation of loving God and one’s neighbor, I not only made them one, but I reached the point of making of it a divine precept.  So, my wounds and my Blood are many tongues that teach everyone the way to love one another and the obligation that all have to care for the salvation of others.”
Vol. 3, June 18, 1900

After this, I seemed to see Him crucified, and since the Lord had shared with me, not only His pains, but some sufferings of another person, He added: “This is true charity:  to destroy oneself in order to give life to others, to take upon oneself the evils of others, and to give Me one’s own goods.”
Vol. 4, July 23, 1901

It is only by the soul living in the Divine Will and doing all her acts in Him that the blindness of man can be remedied and the darkness which enshrouds the earth can be cleared.  Only in this way can man be free and Jesus as well will be free, free to love and give as He wants, to love to the full reach that He wants to love and man will love his God with God's same Divine Love.  Loving God with all one's heart and with all one's soul and with all one's mind is a feat which can only be done in the Divine Will.  This will then also allow God to love us wholly and completely as He so longs to do.  The prisons will be opened and the chains broken and both man and God will both cry out; "Freedom, Freedom!"

“My daughter, how much darkness.  It is such that the earth seems covered with a black mantle, to the point that they can no longer see – they have either become blind, or have no light in order to see; and I want not only divine air for Me, but also light.  Therefore, let your acts be continuous in my Will, so you will make not only air for your Jesus, but also light.  You will be my reflector, my reverberation, the reflection of my love and of my very light.  Even more, I tell you that as you do your acts in my Volition, you will erect tabernacles.  Not only this; as you keep forming thoughts, desires, words, reparations, acts of love, many hosts will be unleashed from you, because they are consecrated by my Will.

“Oh! what a free outpouring my love will have.  I will have free field in everything - no more hindrance; as many tabernacles as I want, so many will I have.  The hosts will be innumerable; at each instant we will communicate each other, together; and I too will cry out:  ‘Freedom! Freedom!  Come all into my Will, and you will enjoy true freedom!’  Outside of my Will, how many hindrances does the soul not find; but in my Will she is free.  I leave her free to love Me as she wants; even more, I tell her:  ‘Lay down your human guises - take the divine.  I am not stingy and jealous of my goods; I want you to take everything.  Love Me immensely; take - take all my love, make it your own; my power, my beauty – make it your own.  The more you take, the happier your Jesus will be.’  The earth forms few tabernacles for Me; the hosts are almost numbered.  And then, the sacrileges, the irreverences that they do to Me – oh! how offended and hindered is my love.  In my Will, instead, no hindrance – there is not a shadow of offense; and the creature gives Me love, divine reparations and complete correspondence; and she substitutes together with Me for all the evils of the human family.  Be attentive, and do not move from the point at which I call you and want you.”

 Vol. 12, February 27, 1919