04-18-2026, 01:37 PM
Mgr. Louis de Ségur: Short Answers to Common Objections Against Religion
SEVENTH OBJECTION. MY RELIGION IS TO DO GOOD TO OTHERS.
Answer. Nothing can be better. It is just what the Christian religion most pressingly commands us to do; even assimilating this duty to that higher and more fundamental one of loving God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," we are told is the first commandment. And the second, which is like unto the first, is this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
These are the very words of Jesus Christ ( St. Matthew, ch. xxii), but He adds something of which you do not take heed: "Upon these two commandments hangs all the law." You, whose religion consists, you say, only in doing good to others, you suppress one of the two commandments, the chief one, from which the other generally springs, which develops and nourishes it, and alone raises it up to heroism and to the height of a religious duty — the commandment of the love of God and the obligation of serving Him. We must have the use of both legs to walk, must we not? Just so, to fulfil our destiny on earth and reach heaven, we must practice both the great commandments:
1. Thou shalt love thy God.
2. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Therefore, the second is rarely observed where the first is neglected; the experience of nineteen centuries proves this. Those Christians who rest the love of their fellow-creatures on the love of God are the only ones who love them truly, efficaciously, purely and constantly.
Who have been the greatest benefactors of suffering humanity? The Saints, that is, men whose hearts were inflamed with the love of God. To cite but one of these, look at St. Vincent de Paul, that hero of brotherly charity, that father of the afflicted, who continues even in these times to do good all over the world by means of the benevolent institutions he founded! Who was Vincent de Paul ? A priest, a churchman! What was the source of his unexampled devotion to his fellow-creatures? The love of God, the practice of Christ's religion.
What are the institutions of benevolence which prosper most (not to say which alone prosper)? What are those which live, which develop themselves and endure through all ages? Those which the Church founds; those which rest on a religious idea, which are crowned by the cross of Jesus Christ!
Who founded hospitals? The Church. Who gave refuge in all times — who, in our days, despite the obstacles which blinded governments have raised up — still gives refuge to every kind of misery, whether of the body or the soul, of infancy, manhood or old age? The Church.
Who has founded, for the relief of each of these miseries, religious orders of men and women, some devoted to foundlings, some to the education of the poor, some to the nursing of the sick, others to the care of lunatics, to the reclaiming of criminals, to sheltering the weary traveller, etc., etc., etc.? The Church, and the Church alone.
It is she who gives birth to the most perfect devotedness to humanity; she produces the sister of charity, as she produces the missionary and the monk of St. Bernard! Always by means of the love of God, as the. most solid foundation of the love of mankind.
In the present age, more than ever, we hear much said about humanity, fraternity, the love of the poor. Systems are built up; fine words cost nothing; books are published and speeches are made. Why have they all so little result? Because religion does not vivify these efforts. No effect can subsist without its cause; the cause, the most fertile principle of brotherly charity, is Divine charity, or the love of God. Distrust these fine systems of fraternity, then, which are independent of religion. There is no love of our fellow-creatures, pure, efficacious, solid or durable, that is not founded in Jesus Christ and maintained by His religion.
SEVENTH OBJECTION. MY RELIGION IS TO DO GOOD TO OTHERS.
Answer. Nothing can be better. It is just what the Christian religion most pressingly commands us to do; even assimilating this duty to that higher and more fundamental one of loving God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," we are told is the first commandment. And the second, which is like unto the first, is this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
These are the very words of Jesus Christ ( St. Matthew, ch. xxii), but He adds something of which you do not take heed: "Upon these two commandments hangs all the law." You, whose religion consists, you say, only in doing good to others, you suppress one of the two commandments, the chief one, from which the other generally springs, which develops and nourishes it, and alone raises it up to heroism and to the height of a religious duty — the commandment of the love of God and the obligation of serving Him. We must have the use of both legs to walk, must we not? Just so, to fulfil our destiny on earth and reach heaven, we must practice both the great commandments:
1. Thou shalt love thy God.
2. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Therefore, the second is rarely observed where the first is neglected; the experience of nineteen centuries proves this. Those Christians who rest the love of their fellow-creatures on the love of God are the only ones who love them truly, efficaciously, purely and constantly.
Who have been the greatest benefactors of suffering humanity? The Saints, that is, men whose hearts were inflamed with the love of God. To cite but one of these, look at St. Vincent de Paul, that hero of brotherly charity, that father of the afflicted, who continues even in these times to do good all over the world by means of the benevolent institutions he founded! Who was Vincent de Paul ? A priest, a churchman! What was the source of his unexampled devotion to his fellow-creatures? The love of God, the practice of Christ's religion.
What are the institutions of benevolence which prosper most (not to say which alone prosper)? What are those which live, which develop themselves and endure through all ages? Those which the Church founds; those which rest on a religious idea, which are crowned by the cross of Jesus Christ!
Who founded hospitals? The Church. Who gave refuge in all times — who, in our days, despite the obstacles which blinded governments have raised up — still gives refuge to every kind of misery, whether of the body or the soul, of infancy, manhood or old age? The Church.
Who has founded, for the relief of each of these miseries, religious orders of men and women, some devoted to foundlings, some to the education of the poor, some to the nursing of the sick, others to the care of lunatics, to the reclaiming of criminals, to sheltering the weary traveller, etc., etc., etc.? The Church, and the Church alone.
It is she who gives birth to the most perfect devotedness to humanity; she produces the sister of charity, as she produces the missionary and the monk of St. Bernard! Always by means of the love of God, as the. most solid foundation of the love of mankind.
In the present age, more than ever, we hear much said about humanity, fraternity, the love of the poor. Systems are built up; fine words cost nothing; books are published and speeches are made. Why have they all so little result? Because religion does not vivify these efforts. No effect can subsist without its cause; the cause, the most fertile principle of brotherly charity, is Divine charity, or the love of God. Distrust these fine systems of fraternity, then, which are independent of religion. There is no love of our fellow-creatures, pure, efficacious, solid or durable, that is not founded in Jesus Christ and maintained by His religion.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre