Love: The Measure of Christian Greatness

Readings for the 30^th Week in Ordinary Time were from Ex 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; 1 Thes 1:5c-10; and Mt 22:34-40.

Recently in our Special Moral class with Dr. Barrett, we've been reading a lot of Josef Pieper's work on the virtues. It struck me as I was going through the readings that he highlights acedia as being opposed to several of the virtues. He describes it as a fear of embracing the greatness for which God has destined us. This fear then leads us away from wanting to acquire virtue because we fear the responsibility, the greatness, that it brings.

But what does this greatness look like exactly? Christian greatness—our Lord makes it very clear in today's gospel—is loving "the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and loving your neighbor as yourself." The two commands are inextricably linked with each other; the deepening in one perfects the practice of the other. But "Why is this true?"

Frank Sinatra had a song that went like this, "Falling in love with love is falling for make believe. Falling in love with love is playing a fool…." God bless Frank, but he had it all wrong! This is the very heart of the command that Jesus says sums up all the law and the prophets. Let me put it this way, only when we are indeed in love with love itself can we truly love as Jesus shows us, selflessly, loving others as ourselves and not for ourselves. But what does this look like?

Last week, I was talking with a priest from my diocese, and he shared with me his view of Jesus' embrace of the passion. He said, "I see a Jesus who leaps onto the cross and is happy to do it again and again and again." What a striking and yet perplexing image this is. How is it that Jesus can sacrifice himself, take on such terrible suffering, submit to such abject humiliation—and do it, not resentfully, not sorrowfully, not even hesitantly, but with sweet abandon?! The answer, at least in part, is that he can see how much his self-sacrifice helps us; he knows that it saves us, and he is happy to save us, no matter what the personal cost, because he loves us that much. His love for us is so perfect, so great, that our salvation brings him immense joy. His love for the Father above all else is what makes sharing a love of such intensity even possible. He can still delight in giving his love to all humanity, even to those people who will reject it, because he can delight in the act of loving itself. This is the fruit of placing the love of God, a love for love itself, ahead of all other love. It goes without saying that our call to act in the person of Christ as head and shepherd is a call to embrace this kind of love for God and for his people. It is a call to make the words of the psalmist our own where he says, "You have placed within my heart a marvelous love for the faithful ones who dwell in the land." It also goes without saying that this is a tall order.

But, we get to train for it; our time here at seminary, it seems to me, is filled with opportunities to prepare ourselves for this kind of self-gift. Think of all the ways in which we can practice generosity here at the seminary. We can share our livelihood. Something as simple as setting aside our spare change for the Baby bottle campaign. We can share our time, the most precious resource of the seminarian. Run a study group. Be a conversation partner for a guy learning a second language. But most importantly, take the time to notice whether a brother needs a hand, and if he does, offer it. And above all, we can share our very presence. Are we available to our brother seminarians? If they reach out to us, will we be there for them? Or, do we start checking our watches 10 minutes into Cam night? Complain for an entire week leading up to and following a retreat about the work we won't accomplish? Are we away from the campus every weekend working in a parish, so that when it comes time for endorsement, no one really knows who we are, and we don't really know anyone else? Are we preparing to act as Christ the shepherd present among the flock he has been given, or are we setting ourselves up for the "Where's Father?" award?

In short, the challenges of community life here and now are opportunities to reach out in selfless love. They are opportunities to become great Christians. If we run away from these challenges, we are running away from Christian greatness. It does not make a difference where we run to. At the end of the day, the double command of Jesus is the measuring stick which judges all the thoughts and actions of any Christian.

Now, if Christians are to be known by their love for one another, we who would be priests must always ask ourselves, "How will these good Christian people recognize me as their priest?" Frankly, if we do not first become great Christians by this standard, if we do not gain a love for love itself that makes us capable of always loving joyfully the fellow Christians surrounding us here and now, they never will.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

~J

P.S. I usually like to include a picture with each post, but trying to find something appropriate for Christian love… well… let's just say the ad nauseam plethora of cutesy-poo images out there betrays the lack of seriousness with which people understand love. So, at least this picture at the top is impressive in its own right. God Bless!