Our duty to God, and how to generally fulfill it
3 min • Digitized on December 29, 2021
From The Sinner’s Guide, page 429
By Venerable Louis of Granada
CHAPTER XLII.
Man’s duty to God
Section I.
Man’s Duties in General.
The third and noblest obligation of justice comprises man’s duty to God, which includes the practice of the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and of that virtue called religion, which has for its object the worship due to God.
To love God with the affection of a dutiful son is the most secure way of fulfilling this obligation, as the most effective means of discharging the other duties of justice is to be to ourselves an upright judge, and to our neighbor a kind and watchful mother.
Consider, then, how a good son manifests his love for his father. How great is his devotion, his fear, his reverence for him! How faithfully he obeys him; how zealously and disinterestedly he serves him! With what confidence he goes to him in all his necessities! With what submission he accepts his corrections! How patiently he bears his reproofs!
Only serve God with such a heart, and you will faithfully fulfil this obligation of justice.
But to attain these dispositions the following virtues seem to me indispensable:
- Love,
- Holy fear,
- Confidence,
- Zeal for the glory of God,
- Purity of intention,
- The spirit of prayer,
- Gratitude,
- Conformity to the will of God,
- Humility, and
- Patience in tribulation.
Section II.
The Love of God.
Our first duty is to love God, as He has commanded us, with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with our whole strength. [Deut. vi. 5.]
All our faculties must co-operate in loving and serving this great Master: the understanding by frequently thinking of Him; the will by loving Him; the passions by turning their strength to His service; the senses and members by zealously executing whatever His love prescribes.
As the “Memorial of a Christian Life” contains a treatise on this subject, we refer the reader to it for a more complete discussion of this virtue.
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