Word to the Wise
Thursday, May 14, 2020 - May 14 - St. Matthias, Apostle
[Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 and John 15:9-17]"This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." [John]
It is a very challenging question: "For whom would you be willing to give up your own life if it would mean the other person would live and you would die?" How many of us would answer, "It depends......!" Even St. Paul admits this is a difficult question: "Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die" [Romans 5:7] And he was comparing this with Christ who died "for the ungodly." [Romans 5:6].
We might respond that our military members, firefighters, police and health-care workers or "first responders" (especially in this time of pandemic) routinely put their lives on the line. The question shifts however if it is a one on one thing, i.e. a parent saving the life of their child at the risk of their own, or a friend giving up a kidney - which statistically shortens one's own life. The discussion could go on a long time! Who is worth your life? What kind of love is this?
This is why Jesus' statement is so powerful. He not only SAID this, but he DID this for ALL of us, good and bad!!! Did he HAVE to do this? No, but what he did was consistent with the promises God had made (as St. Thomas Aquinas tells us.) What could be his possible motive? St. Thomas also tells us that only love could motivate such an action. If we want to test the capacity of our own love, we can ask the question: "Who is worth my life?" Jesus' answer would be simple: EVERYONE. What is our response? AMEN