A thing is good in the eyes of its maker if it accomplishes that for which it was made.  A watch that does not tell time, a knife that does not cut, and a soul that does not love God are three utterly useless things.  And why?  Because they are no good for what they were made.  The watch exists solely to tell the hour, the blade to cut and the soul to love and serve its Maker.  Failing in this, there is no more reason for their being.  Their utility ceasing, they themselves cease to exist to a certain extent, for a thing is really no longer what it was, when it fails to execute that for which it came into being.

Charity, in a word, amounts to this, that we love God, but to the extent of not offending Him.  Anything that falls short of such affection is something other than charity, no matter how many tags and labels it may wear.  If I beheld a brute strike down an aged parent, I would not for a moment think that affection was behind that blow; and I could not conceive how there could be a spark of filial love in that son’s heart until he had atoned for his crime.  Now love is not one thing when directed towards God, and another where man is concerned.

The great hypocrisy of life consists in this that people make an outward showing of loving God, because they know full well that it is their first duty; yet, for all that, they do not a whit mend their ways, and to sin costs them nothing.  They varnish it over with an appearance of honesty and decency, and fair-minded men take them for what they appear to be, and should be, and they pass for such.  These watches are pretty to look upon, beautiful, magnificent, but they are stopped, the interior is out of order, the main-spring is broken, the hands that run across the face lie.  These blades are bright and handsome, but they are dull, blunt, full of nicks, good enough for coarse and vulgar work, but useless for the fine, delicate work for which they were made.

The master mechanic and artist of our souls who wants trustworthy timepieces and keen blades, will not be deceived by these gaudy trinkets, and will reject them.  Others may esteem you for this or that quality, admire this or that qualification you possess, be taken with their superficial gloss and accidental usefulness.  The quality required by Him who made you is that your soul be filled with charity, and proven by absence of sin.

CHAPTER XXVIII.  LOVE OF NEIGHBOR.

The precept, written in our hearts, as well as in the law, to love God, commands us, at the same time, to love the neighbor.  When you go to confession, you are told to be sorry for your sins and to make a firm purpose of amendment.  These appear to be two different injunctions; yet in fact and reality, they are one and the same thing, for it is impossible to abhor and detest sin, having at the same moment the intention of committing it.  One therefore includes the other; one is not sincere and true without the other; therefore one cannot be without the other.  So it is with love of God and of the neighbor; these two parts of one precept are coupled together because they complete each other, and they amount practically to the same thing.