Sunday, May 17 : Saint Maximus the Confessor

La loi de la grâce est la raison qui, plus haut que la nature, mène à la déification en transformant inflexiblement la nature, en montrant comme en image à la nature des hommes, le modèle qui dépasse l’essence et la nature, et en offrant la permanence de l’être éternellement bienheureux. Considérer le prochain comme soi-même, c’est prendre soin de sa seule vie dans son être : ce qui est le propre de la vie naturelle. Aimer le prochain comme soi-même, c’est par vertu, veiller sur la vie du prochain plus que soi-même, c’est tout à fait le propre de la loi de la grâce. The law of grace directly teaches those who are led by it to imitate God himself. For – if it is permitted to speak this way – despite the fact that because of sin we were his enemies, God loved us so much more than himself that, although he is beyond being, he entered without changing into our being, took on human nature, became man and, wishing to reveal himself as man among men, did not refuse to make his own the penalty we all must pay. And as in his providence he became man, so he deified us by grace, in this way not only teaching us to cleave to one another naturally and to love others spiritually as ourselves, but also, like God, to be more concerned for others than for ourselves, and as proof of our love for each other, readily to choose, as virtue enjoins, to die for others. For, as Scripture tells us, there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend (Jn 15:13). The law of grace is a principle transcending nature whose purpose is our deification. It transforms nature without altering its fundamental character and, in a manner which defies comprehension, reveals to human nature, as if in an image, the archetype that lies beyond being and nature and is the ground of eternal well-being. To treat one’s neighbor as oneself is to be concerned simply with his existence. This pertains to natural law. To love one’s neighbor as oneself is to care, in a way that accords with virtue, for his well-being. This is prescribed by the written law. To love one’s neighbor more than oneself is a prerogative of the law of grace.

maronite readings – rosary,team