Suggested Emphasis
“Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another.”
Salesian Perspective
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines debt as “something owed, such as money, goods or services; an obligation or liability to pay or render something to someone else.” The reader is then encouraged to see ghabh in the index of Indo-European Roots: “Important derivatives include give, forgive, gift, able…duty and endeavor.”
Life is full of debt, obligations and things that we owe to others in a spirit of duty. Some of the things that we owe to others include tuition, taxes, credit card debt, utility bills, work for our wages, insurance, health care costs…and the list goes on and one.
On another level, although less obvious, there is a whole host of other things that are even more important that we must render to others in a spirit of generosity: time, talent, respect, reverence, fidelity, honesty, care, concern, consideration, kindness, patience, justice, peace, reconciliation…and this list, too, goes on and on.
I suppose that if one stops to collectively consider all the things that he or she owes to others, it can be more than a little overwhelming. Perhaps best to boil it all down as does St. Paul when he advises us to “owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another.” The debt of love – the bond of love – is not only the most important obligation that we owe to one another: it also includes all the other things, virtues and actions that we owe to others…that we must render to others.
In a letter to St. Jane de Chantal, St. Francis de Sales wrote: “I must tell you that I have never understood that there was any bond between us carrying with it any obligation but that of divine love and true Christian friendship, what St. Paul calls the ‘bond of perfection,’ and truly that is what it truly is, for it is indissoluble and never weakens. All other bonds are temporal…but the bond of love grows and gets stronger every time. It cannot be cut down by death, which, like a scythe, mows down everything but charity…So this is our bond, these our own chains which, the more they are tightened and press against us, the more they bring us joy and freedom…nothing is more pliable than that; nothing, stronger.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, page 127)
Our lives are filled with debts and obligations that we owe to one another. In the midst of our daily attempts to meet these obligations, may God give us the grace to remember and pursue the debt that really matters.
The bond of love…and the obligations – and opportunities – that come with it.
