(171-172) Works Of Love IV
Our Duty To Be In The Debt Of Love To Each Other
"Owe No One Anything, Except To Love One Another." (Romans 13:8)
Dante in his Comedy
Says love is at its truth
Then displays the tragedy
That comes when love's abused
All the denizens stuck in hell
Have made of their love distress
Instead of life, made their riches swell
And turned the beauty of life grotesque
But even love that's been perverted
Into some earthly satisfaction
To salvation it can be converted
Within love's true attraction
Love bestows for some an inner peace
By grace a sense Edenic
From alienation they are released
Through a love that is authentic
Those who strive through purgatory
At some point realized their love's debt
Although painful, they found it salutary
To climb love's mountain without regret
It's hard for us to see love's perfection
When we lose touch with the middle term
But we can rise above conformist stupefaction
And to the truth of love can turn
Love's paradise is all around us
When we authentically participate
The debt we have raised may feel ponderous
To love our neighbor still liberates