The only time rocks don’t fall is when something blocks them.
When the obstacle is removed, they rush downward.
Our love has a similar impulse; our hearts long to be swept up toward God, but we can prevent that impulse to divine union.
We can bury our love beneath the weight of worldly cares and empty passions that hold it back from its upward ascent.
God has left us that terrible power, a power not only to prevent charity from lifting us toward him, but also to pull us away from him.
At the worst, we are capable of what St. John calls a sin unto death, a mortal sin (1 John 5:16-17).
Mortal sin is an action which destroys the gift of charity in our soul.
If we think of charity as an impulse to lift us by our free will toward God, a sin unto death is an impulse away from God.
Charity is present in our soul whenever when we are actively moving toward God, or when we are at least holding still.
But if we ever choose to run away from the God who loves us, and cling to another good instead of him, then we have destroyed the gift of charity in our soul.
Since charity is the vital principle of our life with God, to destroy charity is to commit a sin unto a spiritual death.
St. Thomas Aquinas helpfully explains mortal sin: “When the will sets itself upon something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object … whether it contradicts the love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as homicide or adultery.”[1]
Such actions cannot co-exist with charity in the soul, so they necessitate a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of our hearts.
Sin besides mortal sin—venial sin—does not remove charity, but still decreases our receptivity to the charity in our soul.
In the parable, the man with one talent buried the talent of silver, but he still had it in his possession when the landowner returned.
Therefore, we understand, this man’s first “sin” in the parable was “venial,” but became compounded the longer he left his talent buried.
Similarly, frequent neglect of one’s relationship with God and neighbor can dispose one to destroy that relationship.
The man who had buried his talent ultimately lost it, because he came to see his master not as someone he loved, but as a tyrant he feared.
Reflect on your relationship to God and neighbor.
Are there ways that you are actively working against the gift of charity you had once received?
Then convert at once.
Seek reconciliation with our Lord!
Are there other ways that you are neglecting the gift of charity, either in ignoring it or in being lukewarm?
Ask God for the grace to know this and to respond with increased fervor of love.
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 88, a. 2
