CCLXXIII – Love Your Big Fat Stupid Neighbor

In order to properly love ones neighbor sometimes we have to call them names; names even we don’t relish calling them. The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name, and we certainly don’t help our friend lose weight by telling him he looks like the picture of health. Neither do we help our friend lose weight by calling him a fat sack of lard. The specific phrasing will vary but something to the effect of “You know Tobias, I’m worried about your health,” would be a great way to start the conversation given it was appropriate to do so.

I’ve written before with the intent of tackling how we approach this difficult topic, and I always stop short and focus on governing our own lives well. But I was finally able to understand how this works.

If we accept the proposition that the Church is True…
And we accept that a doctrine of the Church (which is True) is that there is no salvation outside the Church…
And if we accept that salvation (via the Church, which is true) is the best possible good for ourselves and our neighbors…
…Then we are obligated to help our neighbors into the Church.

We are obligated to live our faith as good examples of the Church for our neighbors.
We are obligated to renounce evil wherever it is found, even if it is in our neighbors.
We are obligated to help our neighbors see evil even if it can be found inside them.
We are obligated to spur our neighbors to amend their lives with varying degrees of force.

It is not pride to declare ourselves Catholic, despite being also fallible and fallen creatures. Even the poorest Catholic publican will go to heaven before the foremost heretical theologian (supposing the latter was meritorious through other means).

We have an obligation to see God in our neighbors, to see our neighbors for their souls, and to worry about their souls. All this is secondary to worrying about our own souls. We cannot give what we do not have.

I like to go back to the movie “A Man for All Seasons”. The future Saint, Thomas More, addresses his future son-in-law, who at the time is a Lutheran. He asks for More’s daughter’s hand in marriage:

“Not so long as you’re a heretic.”
“Now that is a word I do not like!”
“It’s not a likeable word, it’s not a likeable thing.”

St. Thomas More loved his future son-in-law enough to tell him the Truth and not to put any polish on it. He didn’t make it insulting nor did he soften the blow: To be protestant is to be a heretic. Just because it is a long standing and popular heresy doesn’t make it not a heresy. You can approach it this way: “You know Tobias, I am worried about your soul.”

So, love your neighbor, and if they are heretics don’t lie to them.

AMDG