For what is more beautiful in life than peace and unity? Christ gave His life for us so that we may be unified with Him in His Holy Family. Upon our Lord’s Resurrection, He exclaimed, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). For where there is the work of God, the Devil works in opposition (Sheen, 2019). Love versus hate, peace versus chaos, unity versus division.

This very truth is not new, but rather an ongoing part of history: Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:4 through 3:24), Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1 through 16), Isaac and Ishmael (Genesis 21:8 through 21), and Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:19 through 34; 27:1 through 45). For this is the tragedy of humanity: separation from God by our choice alone. That is why Christ, our Lord God and King of this Universe, suffered to save this mess that we made with our free will.

Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal, warned of the division of the people and specifically the family (Montagna, 2017). As is written in Scripture, “In those days, father will be divided against mother, brother against sister, father against son, and mother against daughter” (cf. Luke 12:51 through 53).

We profess our own faith and may even practice it on Sunday and even still at various times during the week in the Church, but we fail to practice what we preach when we forget to live it in our treatment of others. For as Christ died for us, our Lord commands us to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34).

So, when we fail to be loving, forgiving, patient, honest, committed, and sacrificial unto death, we fail to live out our faith in Christ. For this is the breaking of the two commandments Christ, our Lord, proclaimed as of the most importance in His teaching from the Ten Commandments, which are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37 through 40).

And this, if we are not careful in breaking these two commandments, is a mortal sin. Breaking the two most important commandments willingly and justifying it is the definition of a mortal sin (Catholic Church, 1997, nos. 1857 through 1859).

For that was the very complaint of Christ to the Pharisees: “Whitewashed tombs that outwardly appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of dead bones” (Matthew 23:27 through 28), for they practiced their faith but failed to live it.

The prayer Christ, our Lord, prayed most earnestly was for unity (John 17:20 through 23). Thus, our greatest sin is our division. May we not only practice our faith, but pray that our hearts are transformed in the love of Christ.

References

Catholic Church. (1997). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Montagna, D. (2017, May 19). Cardinal Caffarra: “What Sr. Lucia wrote to me is being fulfilled today.” Aleteia.

Sheen, F. J. (2019, August 31). The demonic today [Transcript of speech]. WQPH Radio.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2011). New American Bible, Revised Edition. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.