Two by two

 1. Two kinds of people.
     Two kinds of people listened to the preaching of Christ. St. Thomas of Aquinas called the first the spoiled listener, while the other one is the blind listener. The first kind is represented by Nazareth; while the other is represented by Capernaum. 
     The first kind heard Christ with their minds but not with their hearts. So they were never converted. The other one were sinners yet when they heard Christ they took what they heard to heart and were converted. The Gospel states that Christ left the first and went to the second kind. 
     The Gospel shows how Christ reacts to souls. If the soul hears with the ears but does not listen with heart and mind Christ tend to abandon them. He does not waste His time with such kind. But no matter how great sinner people are if they listen to the Words of God and are converted, then Christ takes notice of this and educates them. 
     In fact Christ mentions something about shaking your sandals and leaving a place that does not welcome the Words of God. While Christ remains staying and eating in a place that welcomes the Words of God. 
     Pope Francis compared himself to Christ going to the peripheries. Is he an anti-Christ? Christ abandoned the peripheries that do not convert like the adulterers, the atheist, the perverts and the unbelievers. Christ went to those who obeyed His commands like Andrew and Peter. Pope Francis does not even obey the commands of God as found both in the Old and New Testament. Just look at his recent prohibition; it is a strict positive command in the Old Testament. 

2. The first step towards conversion. 
     Obedience towards the commands of Christ is the beginning of conversion. Christ had just gone by the Sea of Galilee to call on souls who immediately obeyed His commands. He called the first set of two brothers, Andrew and Peter, James and John. 
     The first act of conversion must be obeyed  in community, like two or three. The first act of conversion is ‘Repent and believe.’ Belief is an act of Faith and an act of Charity.
     There are two commandments, the love of God and the love of neighbor. The love of God can be done by man alone; because he only needs his intellect and his free will to do it. But the love of neighbor cannot be done by man alone; he needs a neighbor to love. Thus a soul who loves God needs a human neighbor to express his love for God on a neighbor. He needs a community. 
     Without a neighbor he will be able to obey one command, love of God; but he will not be able to obey the second command, love of neighbor.  He will only be half a Catholic; and will not be able to enter the kingdom of God. 
     The concept of community life is of the essence of the Catholic Church. The church is defined as a community of souls with one heart and one mind; that is a community with one Faith and one Charity, one belief and one love. To be a Catholic, a soul must be living in community; with neighbors. 

     The Blessed Trinity is a community of three. Prayers must be done by two or three; in fact the Divine Office which is the official prayer of the Catholic Church is recited in community. 

3. The definition of ‘two.’
     The love of God can be done by one person. But to love one’s neighbor there must be another person that must be the object of love. You can love God alone but you cannot love your neighbor without a neighbor. Thus when Christ called his first disciples He called them two by two; Andrew and Peter, James and John. The Church begins as a community and ends as a community. 
     The two must both be loving God and neighbor, i.e. both must have the same mind and heart. When both are aiming at love of God and neighbor, it becomes  very easy for both to attain their aim. This is the goal of a Christian Community; to make it easy for all to attain their goal of love of God and neighbor, which is salvation. 
     Thus when St. Boniface preached in Germany, he preached with an entire community. He showed that one can love God alone by himself. But to love one’s neighbor you have to live with another in community.

4. When one is lacking.
     The ideal is for both husband and wife loving God and neighbor in the Sacrament of Matrimony. Such is a heaven here on earth. But what if the husband loves God and neighbor while the wife loves no one. Then we do not have yet the beginnings of a Catholic community. There is a need for another ‘one.’ The children can fall under this ‘other one.’ If this does not work with the first child, then try to have another child with the hope that the next could be the ‘other’ who would also love God and neighbor thus creating a Church. This is the reason why families are encouraged to have many children; and why there are large communities. It gives them the opportunity to have another neighbor equally loving God and neighbor thus forming the two by two requirement of a true Christian community. 

5. Two are better than one in evangelizing.
    Thus we have St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, St. Francis and St. Clare, St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal. Pairs are more impressive for the reason that they can give witness to the love of God and love of neighbor. One preacher cannot do so. 

6. Prior requirement before Faith and Charity.
    Faith and Charity is what unites Andrew and Peter, James and John. But they cannot be united in one mind and heart unless they are detached from all worldly possessions, from all human affections and from their own personal ideas. 
    Thus Pope John Paul II, in his ‘Veritatis Splendor,’ the greatest encyclical as of lately, emphasized the story of the young rich man who asked Christ, ‘what must I do to have everlasting life?’ It is the question of all people seriously wanting to save his soul. 
    Christ answer is what He demanded Andrew and Peter, James and John; ‘go home, sell all your things, give them to the poor and follow Me. Andrew and Peter were told to leave their boats and nets. James and John were told to leave even their father.
     
7. Pope Francis.
    Pope Francis is not able even to give up his Argentine passport in place of a Vatican passport. He could not give up his Jewish friends, Lutheran acquaintances, Evangelical friends, adulterous followers, atheist phone pals, etc. And he cannot give up his personal ideas like all souls go to heaven and discipline is forbidden and Martin Luther is better than St. Augustine or St. Thomas of Aquinas. His ‘other one’ are not those who love God and neighbor, but those who hate God and neighbor shown by their disobedience to the commands of God. Even Francis, himself, hates God shown in his disobedience to God’s command which can be read in ‘amores laetitia.’ He is not putting into practice today’s Gospel teaching. 
     Pope Francis is a Jesuit who have been taught the teachings of Christ in the seminary. And he had rejected those teachings seen in most of his speeches, ‘motu proprio’ and even in ‘amores laetitia..’ Christ had long abandoned such souls as He had abandoned Nazareth, to look for those in darkness but open to learning the Word of God as Capernaum or maybe as Donald Trump.