Worthy of Christ’s Love

During Holy Week, in our readings and our prayers and in the Stations of the Cross, we witness the single most powerful expression of love yet: Jesus’ self-sacrifice for the redemption of all humanity.

In his encyclical Deus caritas est (God is Love), Pope Benedict spells out the beauty of selfless love, and love for our neighbour  the one commandment Christ added to the ten dispensed through the agency of Moses.

Amid all the tense foreboding of Holy Thursday, the sorrowful turbulence of Good Friday, and the joy of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, we ought to find profit in reflecting on whether we are truly worthy of Christ’s great love.

This examination of conscience is part of our preparation for the sacrament of Reconciliation, especially before Easter, when we confess our sins before God, ask for his forgiveness and wipe the slate clean. Part of the deal is our commitment not to repeat these sins (or at least to try our best not to). If our treatment of others is an indication, chances are that many of us either do not confess our trespasses against others, or default on our commitment not to repeat our sins, or do not think that our poor treatment of others is in fact sinful.

Sinning against our neighbour is not just the terrain of the standard villains such as wifebeaters, fraudsters, drug dealers or profiteers. Malicious gossip or rumour-mongering, never mind the dissemination of outright lies, is sinful. Gossip, rumour, innuendo and lies have a way of causing injury. The result may be relatively harmless (say, a dented ego) or there may be grave consequences (for example, the loss of a job). Either way, by acting with malicious intent or without charity, the offender negates Christ’s love.

Such conduct is more shocking yet when set within the context of the Church community. Many parishes are divided because parishioners, and sometimes their priests, forget to love their neighbour in their pursuit of power, influence or position in their service to Christ (we are free, of course, to dislike our neighbours, but we are called to love them).

Politics within the Church can become particularly nasty, most likely because Catholics feel their faith so deeply. Some Catholics take the mistaken view that they should defend their particular understanding of the Catholic faith by all means necessary, paradoxically even when such means require the violation of what they seek to defend the teachings of Christ. In a quest to defend Christ, such people repudiate his basic and all-encompassing injunction: to love one another.

The suspicion and anger with which some Catholics tend to treat others is a greater injury to Christ than any misrepresented or misunderstood point of doctrine.

Christ calls us to love even those we deem unworthy of it, as he loves us who are unworthy of him. We are commanded to see God’s face in the other; not only those whom we find agreeable, but also in the street beggar, the taxi driver, the prostitute, the obnoxious radio presenter, the rival in the workplace, the keyboard warrior, the populist politician.

Jesus presented us with some challenges which he knew few of us would be able to attain. This is one of them. We may find it impossible to meet, but this does not exempt us from always trying. Our challenge is to avoid doing harm to others through our actions and inactions, and to bring good upon others by what we do.

To observe the 11th commandment, we must be gracious towards those whom we disagree with, generous towards those who need it, forgiving towards those who antagonise us, and considerate towards all. This, too, can be an expression of love for our neighbour.

As we contemplate the suffering Christ on the Cross, we call to mind his self-sacrificing love for all humanity; a love we must never cease to try and be worthy of.