Jul 04 2008
Friday with the Church Fathers: The Two Ways
From the Didache, which is also called the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”:
There are two ways, one of life and one of death: and great is the difference between the two ways. The way of life is this: first, you shall love God, who created you; second, your neighbor as yourself. Whatever you would not wish to be done to you, do not do to another. The teaching of these words is this. Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies: fast for those who persecute you. For what kindness it is, if you love those who you love? Do not even the pagans do this? Love those who hate you, and you will not have an enemy.
Anyone who is familiar with the Gospel of Matthew will recognize the source of this passage: Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7). In fact, to read the Didache (pronounced did-ah-kay) is to read an early commentary on the moral teachings of the New Testament. In it we see how the early Church understood Christian morality.
This passage is important for us for several reasons. First, it’s a clarion of moral absolutes. Though we like to believe that we live in the moral grayness of everyday life, the Didache reminds us in no uncertain terms that there are only two ways. One way leads to life, the other to death.
We are speaking here of spiritual life and spiritual death, and we must always keeps this in mind. We sorely neglect our moral and spiritual health; we overvalue and overemphasize our physical health. People routine refuse to consume certain foods and drink because of the effect they have on their physical health, but many of us refuse to put the same kind of restraint on what we allow ourselves to watch, to listen to, and even to participate in. If we had the eyes to see how our moral acts build up or break down our soul, we would live very different lives indeed.
Another beautiful aspect of passage is that it reminds us that authentic Christian morality is neither esoteric nor complicated. Love God; love neighbor; follow the Golden Rule; do not seek revenge; forgive those who sinned against you. Every properly catechized child about to revive his First Holy Communion knows these moral truths. The difficulty of being a Christian is living these truths, day in and day out, with no exception, until we take our final breath. Indeed, at the heart of Christian morality is lifelong faithfulness to the commands of God.
One final point: We are familiar with the idea to pray for others, even our enemies, but how strange it sounds to us to hear these words: “Fast for those who persecute you.” This is a call to willingly suffer for those who actively seek to harm us emotionally, spiritually, intellectual, or physically. This is nothing more than what Christ did for us on the first Good Friday. Though authentic Christian morality begins by following the Commandments, its maturity, its fullness, is reached by imitating Christ in all things.
