Our Neighbor: A Brother of Christ
Oh my God … you not only have given us a Savior, but a first- born brother as well. [In doing so] you have raised us [me and my neighbor] up to become your adopted children, your heirs and co- heirs of your Incarnate Son. (OOCC, XIII, pp. 150 - 151; GIL, XXIV, p. 92)
St. Vincent Pallotti, having described one’s neighbor philosophically and theologically, attempts to give the concept of neighbor a Christo-centric interpretation. According to this perception, one’s neighbor is understood as a brother/sister of Christ. Jesus, the First Born Brother came into the world as the Savior of humankind. By accomplishing the plan of the Father for the salvation of every human person, Jesus raised all God’s people to the level of God’s adopted children, heirs of God’s kingdom, and co-heirs with Jesus, the Incarnate Son and the First Born Brother. Christ’s work of salvation as the First Born Brother has brought every human person into a special and unique relationship with God, that is, being his children. Understood in this background, one’s neighbor gains a special significance. Because of Christ’s redemptive act, I not only have a deeper relationship with God, but also I stand in a new relationship with my neighbor. My brother/sister by way of adoption, is an heir of God and a co-heir of Jesus. Understood in this deeper meaning of one’s neighbor, the commandment of love takes still a greater significance. Now that I am called to accept my neighbor unreservedly, I need to be self-forgetful in my love of my neighbor, and I need to change my self-centered living into other-centered living.
Do I consider my neighbor an adopted child of God, an heir to God’s kingdom and a co-heir with Christ? Do I imitate the spirit of Jesus, my First Born Brother, in dedicating myself to my neighbor? Am I self- forgetful and other-centered in my love for my neighbor?
But those who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God. (Jn. 1: 12)