Friday, March 7 : Saint Maximus the Confessor

Watch yourself, lest the vice which separates you from your neighbor lies not in the neighbor but in yourself. Be reconciled with your neighbor without delay, so that you do not lapse from the commandment of love. Do not hold the commandment of love in contempt, through it you will become a child of God. But if you transgress you will become offspring of Gehenna. (…) Has your neighbor been the occasion of some trial for you, and has your resentment led you to hatred? Do not let yourself be overcome by this hatred, but conquer it with love. You will succeed in this by sincerely praying to God for your neighbor and accepting their apology, or else by the conciliatory action of making an apology yourself, regarding yourself as responsible for the trial and patiently waiting until the cloud has passed. (…) Do not lightly discard spiritual love, for there is no other road to salvation. (…) The rational person cannot nurse hatred against someone else and yet be at peace with God, the giver of the commandments. “For,” he says, “If you do not forgive someone their faults, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your faults (cf. Mt 6:14-15). If your neighbor does not wish to live peaceably with you, nevertheless guard yourself against hatred, praying for, and not abusing, that person sincerely. (…) Strive as hard as you can to love everyone. If you cannot yet do this, at least do not hate anyone. But even this is beyond your power unless you scorn worldly things. (…) The friends of Christ love all truly but are not themselves loved by all; the friends of the world neither love nor are loved by all. The friends of Christ persevere in love to the end; the friends of the world only persevere until they fall out with each other over some worldly thing.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team