Jesus Christ and the brotherhood

The universal laws of the heart are: seek out the pleasant and discard the unpleasant; like the charming, and clash with the unfriendly; love the lovable, and abhor the insufferable. How is it possible to have forgiveness where instinct cries out for vengeance? Who can put kindness where the heart demands violence, and sweetness where there is bitterness?

Without God, there can be no brotherhood. In order to have brotherly love, it is imperative to first overturn the old laws of the heart, and set off a revolution in man’s instinctive impulses.

Who can bring about that revolution? Someone who comes from without to take up residence in our heart: Jesus Christ.

Only Jesus Christ can give us so much satisfaction that it compensates for the cost of having to die to self in order to love. Only by holding on tightly to a living Jesus Christ can one swallow one’s pride, be silent, give in, let go, have patience…without God we will only love ourselves, and give free rein to all the regressive and aggressive tendencies in our hearts.

Extracted from the book “The Fire and the Rose” by Father Ignacio Larrañaga.