“Love your neighbour as yourself”*.

This is a continuous tension because our nature loves itself.

Often we hear news of disasters, earthquakes, hurricanes which claim victims and leave people injured and homeless. But it’s one thing to be one of those affected and another thing to be an onlooker.

Even if we are able to offer some aid to help the others, we are not them.

Tomorrow it could be the other way round: I on my deathbed (if I am given a bed!) and the others out in the sun enjoying life.

All that Christ has commanded us goes beyond our nature as it is now.

But also the gift he gave us, the one mentioned to the Samaritan woman, is not human in nature. So it is possible to share in our brother’s pain, joy or worries because we have in us charity which s of a divine nature.

With this love, that is with Christian love, our brother can be truly comforted and tomorrow I might be comforted by him.

And in this way it is possible to live, because otherwise human life would be very hard and difficult, indeed sometimes it would appear to be impossible.

Chiara Lubich

(1) Cf. Lv 19, 18.
Photo: © Pixabay

(From Chiara Lubich, 1964-1980 Diary, Città Nuova, 2023)

The edition of the Diary of Chiara Lubich was edited by Fabio Ciardi. We invite you to see the interview we conducted at the time of the presentation.