283 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year 2. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25).124 Consider that the question put forth by this young man in the Gospel was motivated more by curiosity than by necessity. For if he had asked seriously about the way leading to salvation, he would have sold everything and followed Christ the Lord, according to the answer given to him. It may seem to you also that you have approached the sacred table, driven by the zeal of living in a more perfect way. But since you sail the same boat as before, since you abound with the same imperfections, since no improvement has been seen in you, it may be truly understood from such bad results that what preceded them was not good either, namely: that you went to the Most Holy Eucharist out of habit, rather than out of a concern for greater perfection; and this is not at all proper to those striving for perfection. 3. “You shall love” (Lk 10:27). Consider carefully that the love of God abolishes or suffocates the love of the world, for as death separates the soul from the body, so the love of God eliminates from the heart the love of the world and of all vain things. Hence, the saying of Solomon the wise is entirely appropriate: “Love is as strong as death” (Cant 8:6). Therefore, if some sparks of conceit or of the love of the world are still to be found in you, know that you lack the perfect love of God, although just a while ago you [f.77v] received Him. Nevertheless, the greater the effort with which you search for this perfect love of God, the more certain is this saying of the eternal Truth, affirming that eternal life is founded on the love of God and neighbor. 124 In the manuscript this entire second point was crossed out, undoubtedly because St. Stanislaus had mistakenly written about the case of the young man (cf. Mt 19:16-22), rather than that of the lawyer (cf. Lk 10:25-37), which he had been considering in the previous meditation points and which is the proper Gospel for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost.
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