#137, The Gift of Love (Holy Thursday)
Divine Intimacy, by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.
If we cannot imitate the love of Jesus by giving our body as food to our brethren, we can imitate Him at least by giving them loving assistance, not only in agreeable circumstances, but also in difficult and disagreeable ones. By washing His disciples’ feet, the Master shows us how far we should humble ourselves to render a service to our neighbor, even were he most lowly and abject. The Master, who, by unceasing proofs of His love, advances to meet ungrateful men and even those who have betrayed Him, teaches us that our charity is far from His unless we repay evil with good, forgive everything, and are even willing to repay with kindness those who have done us harm. The Master, who gave His live for the salvation of His own, tells us that our love is incomplete if we cannot sacrifice ourselves generously for others. His “new commandment,” which makes the love of Jesus Himself the measure of our fraternal love, opens up unlimited horizons for the exercise of charity, for it means charity without limits. If there is a limit, it is that of giving, like the Master, one’s life for others, for “greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).
A part of the “purification” of the errors of liberation theology...
“..there is the ‘option for the poor’: the poor Christ is God’s option in person.”
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1996, “A New Song for the Lord”
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