1. Charity is Christian Perfection. And to reach it we have to pass two stages; the beginner’s stage and the proficient’s stage.
2. Christ said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” The commands of Christ may be divided into two groups. One group that direct us towards Charity and the other which commands us to remove everything that are obstacles to Charity.
3. There are certain things in life that can hinder our growth towards Charity but are not really obstacles. Like properties, human affections and, sometimes, doing our own will. These should be governed by the so-called Evangelical Counsels. Otherwise, if misused, they can be detrimental. This is something we must all realize that all Christians are bound to observe the spirit of the Evangelical Counsels if we must remove those small hindrances to Charity. The Counsels are not exclusively for the use of religious. Without the aid of the Counsels it would be impossible for anyone to reach Charity.
4. The sign that one has reached the beginnings of Charity, thus the beginnings of Christian Perfection is the absence of mortal sin because Charity and mortal sin cannot exist together. They are contradictory.
5. But even within Charity, there are still three stages. The Charity of the beginners, the Charity of the Proficient and the Charity of the Perfect. The Charity of the beginners is when one is free from mortal sin; the Charity of the Proficient is when a soul is further purified from any defect in the senses (commonly called the dark night of the senses) and the last stage, the Charity of the Perfect wherewith the soul is further purified in spirit (commonly called the dark night of the spirit). A description of these last two may be seen in the life of St. Therese of Lisieux during her last years.
6. These stages on how to attain Charity might appear daunting at first sight. For those who have kept the innocence of childhood, like St. Therese, it would be easy. But for those who have “grown up” it would be a “narrow road” because they have to become children again and then, tread the path to Charity.
7. It is only when we reach Charity that we are united with God, and worthy to receive the Holy Spirit thus becoming the temple of the Holy Spirit.
8. In the light of Deus Caritas Est, we can find out how we stand before God and, as a consequence, find out our chances of salvation. (Painting is “The hospitality of Saint Julian” by Cristofano Allori.)