Commandment of Love: Belongs to Human Nature
God is infinite love in essence; man, by way of creation, is a living image of God. Since God is perfect in loving and glorifying himself [as the three persons in the Godhead], man must be perfect in loving and praising God. … Since God is perfect in loving man, man must be perfect in loving his neighbor. (OOCC, IV, pp. 308-309)
St. Vincent Pallotti believed that God, who is infinite love in essence, has loved every human person into existence. Hence, by the very fact of his creation, every person is a living image of God, who is love. Since a person is the living image of the loving God, loving God and one’s neighbor whole-heartedly and unconditionally belongs to human nature. Therefore, a person must aim toward attaining the perfection of love that is found in God. God is a community of three persons, loving and glorifying each other and always attempting to bring to each other the highest honor. A human person must, in imitation of the Trinitarian love, live his life to bring honor and glory to God. Similarly, God loves a person in the most perfect manner. Trinitarian love reaches out to humankind through the acts of creation, redemption and sanctification by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit respectively. Hence, in imitation of God’s perfect love for humankind, every human person must also love his neighbor without fail. St. Vincent Pallotti lived this truth on an everyday basis in his life. Having deeply experienced the love of God within himself and in the created world, he could not help but live his life to love God and his neighbor.
Do I realize that God, who is love, has loved me into existence? Do I recognize my vocation to be the image of God, who is love? Do I love God and my neighbor in imitation of the Trinitarian love within the Godhead?
Beloved let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. (I Jn. 4: 7)