Christ’s celibacy found expression in His consecration to universal love, which was His response to His Father’s love. Jesus experienced this love as extending to Him personally and to all His brothers and sisters. He realized that in Him, God was making an absolute gift of love to the entire humanity. The response of Jesus to the Father’s love for Him was His celibacy, by which He gave Himself completely to His Father and to His fraternity—the whole human race. “Into Your hands I commend my Spirit.”
The Father’s love creates, integrates, unites, heals, forgives, reconciles unto fulness and for eternity. Jesus completes this in His life and returns to the Father. The resultant emanating Holy Spirit continues the integrating love of the Father in the disciples. Each of us is called to be a vehicle of that love.
Two Models
Becoming aware of the loving presence of this Father God in the most suffering and needy humanity, Mother Teresa and Brother Andrew (co-founder of the MC Brothers) embarked on the adventure of initiating these religious orders (Missionaries of Charity).
Mother Teresa was exemplary in living the Corporal Works of Mercy: (1) Feed the hungry; (2) Give drink to the thirsty; (2) Clothe the naked; (4) Shelter the homeless; (5) Comfort the imprisoned; (6) Visit the sick; (7) Bury the dead. All the time she became more aware she was doing it to Jesus Himself.
Brother Andrew lived the Spiritual Works of Mercy: (1) Admonish sinners; (2) Instruct the uninformed; (3) Counsel the doubtful; (4) Comfort the sorrowful; (5) Be patient with those in error; (6) Forgive offenses; (7) Pray for the living and the dead.
Every genuine human love entails eros and agape. In marriage, there is the mutual dependence of partners. In agape, instead, there is a freeing dynamics.
Volumes can be written on discovering the mystery of Infinity in each suffering person, and in being a caring, sharing presence—a healing, forgiving, integrating presence—to each of them.
Enlightenment is not only asceticism or detachment from worldliness and self-centred ambition. It is also about being a caring sharing total presence to the needy ones—to bring the other to fullness of life and to have that as a source of joy and completion. This is the purpose of life—just as God the Father loved Jesus and humanity.
Bro Peter Swaminathan MC
To read the entire article, click Subscribe
