Seeking Neighbor’s Salvation: Expression of True Love
No one can love his neighbor … unless he seeks the salvation of his neighbor. … [Hence] he who seriously fails to help his neighbor in the needs of his soul is … guilty. (OOCC, IV, p. 309)
St. Vincent Pallotti believed that seeking one’s neighbor’s salvation is the best way of expressing a person’s true love for his neighbor. We have the duty to come to the help of our neighbor in his spiritual need of attaining eternal salvation, because God has loved us by sending his only-begotten Son for our salvation. That which motivates God to send his Son is his desire for our salvation. Hence, our desire for the salvation of our neighbor must motivate us to continue the very apostolate of Jesus in the context of our everyday living. According to St. Vincent, God was perfect in loving humankind and so every person must be perfect in loving his neighbor. The best way to express our love for our neighbor is to desire, seek and work for the salvation of our neighbor. All of us must help each other in experiencing the Lord and finally arriving in his presence. If a person fails to help his neighbor with his spiritual needs, he is guilty of preventing the salvation of his neighbor. Hence, motivated by true love of our neighbor, we must work towards the procurement of his salvation. In doing so, we will become true lovers of our neighbor.
Do I express true love for my neighbor by seeking his eternal salvation? Do I desire to help my neighbor with his spiritual needs? Is working for the salvation of my neighbor an apostolic priority in my life? Do I realize that not taking interest in the salvation of my neighbor amounts to preventing his salvation?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation? (Heb. 1: 14)