Again, Veritatis Splendor provides much food for mediation.
VS>> 19. The way and at the same time the content of this perfection
consists in the following of Jesus, "sequela Christi," once one has given
up one's own wealth and very self. This is precisely the conclusion of
Jesus' conversation with the young man: "Come, follow me" (Mt 19:21). It
is an invitation the marvellous grandeur of which will be fully perceived
by the disciples after Christ's Resurrection, when the Holy Spirit leads
them to all truth (cf. Jn 16:13).
FP>> Perhaps if the young man had realized the greatness of the call
Christ was giving him, he would have given up his possessions not only
willingly, but joyfully. To give up oneself and what one has to follow
Christ brings great joy. In a letter to youth, commenting on this same
gospel, the Holy Father said that if the young man had answered the call
to follow Christ, he would not have gone away sad. Instead, he would have
remained, and found great happiness. Indeed, he would have later shared
with the disciples of Jesus the joy of seeing him risen from the dead.
In a like way, we often think of making sacrifices for Christ to be a
thing of sadness. How very much deceived we are. Whatever sacrifice we
make to follow Christ more perfectly will bring us joy, both here, and in
the life to come. There is nothing greater or more joyful that to follow
Christ in a spirit of generosity.
VS>> It is Jesus himself who takes the initiative and calls people to
follow him. His call is addressed first to those to whom he entrusts a
particular mission, beginning with the Twelve; but it is also clear that
every believer is called to be a follower of Christ (cf. Acts 6:1).
"Following Christ is thus the essential and primordial foundation of
Christian morality:" just as the people of Israel followed God who led
them through the desert towards the Promised Land (cf. Ex 13:21), so every
disciple must follow Jesus, towards whom he is drawn by the Father himself
(cf. Jn 6:44).
This is not a matter only of disposing oneself to hear a teaching and
obediently accepting a commandment. More radically, it involves "holding
fast to the very person of Jesus," partaking of his life and his destiny,
sharing in his free and loving obedience to the will of the Father. By
responding in faith and following the one who is Incarnate Wisdom, the
disciple of Jesus truly becomes "a disciple of God" (cf. Jn 6:45). Jesus
is indeed the light of the world, the light of life (cf. Jn 8:12). He is
the shepherd who leads his sheep and feeds them (cf. Jn 10:11-16); he is
the way, and the truth, and the life (cf. Jn 14:6). It is Jesus who leads
to the Father, so much so that to see him, the Son, is to see the Father
(cf. Jn 14:6-10). And thus to imitate the Son, "the image of the invisible
God" (Col 1:15), means to imitate the Father.
FP>> Passages such as these give the lie to the idea that Christian
morality is merely a matter of conforming one's conduct to standards set
by an ecclesiastical authority, or that it is a collection of "don'ts"
backed up with the threat of divine punishment. True, Christian morality
does have absolute prohibitions, and there is such a thing as divine
punishment, but to limit it to a consideration of these -- what an
impoverished view! Our faith requires so much more of us than just NOT
doing EVIL. It is a call from Christ to each one of us, personally and
without exception, to follow him.
Following Christ means studying his words and his life, and striving to
imitate him. It means listening humbly to his instruction, and sharing in
his desire -- you might say, his passion -- to fulfill his Father's will
perfectly. Further, as the Holy Father points out, since Christ is God
become man, to be a disciple of Christ is to be a disciple of God. To
imitate Christ is to imitate the perfections of God. "Be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect." But practically speaking, how does one go
about this? Follow the advice of the book, The Imitation of Christ, and
take a fresh look at the Gospels, reading them as if you had never read
them before, confident that through them Christ will speak to you. Has
any of you tried this? If so, what was the result? Any examples?
VS>> 20. "Jesus asks us to follow him and to imitate him along the path
of love, a love which gives itself completely to the brethren out of love
for God:" "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you" (Jn 15:12). The word "as" requires imitation of Jesus and of
his love, of which the washing of feet is a sign: "If I then, your Lord
and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's
feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done
to you" (Jn 13:14- 15). Jesus' way of acting and his words, his deeds and
his precepts constitute the moral rule of Christian life. Indeed, his
actions, and in particular his Passion and Death on the Cross, are the
living revelation of his love for the Father and for others. This is
exactly the love that Jesus wishes to be imitated by all who follow him.
It is "the 'new' commandment:" "A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one
another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another" (Jn 13:34-35).The word "as" also indicates the
"degree" of Jesus' love, and of the love with which his disciples are
called to love one another. After saying: "This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12), Jesus continues with
words which indicate the sacrificial gift of his life on the Cross, as the
witness to a love "to the end" (Jn 13:1): "Greater love has no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13).
As he calls the young man to follow him along the way of perfection, Jesus
asks him to be perfect in the command of love, in "his" commandment: to
become part of the unfolding of his complete giving, to imitate and
rekindle the very love of the "Good" Teacher, the one who loved "to the
end". This is what Jesus asks of everyone who wishes to follow him: "If
any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me" (Mt 16:24).
FP>> Again, we come to the question, how do we imitate Christ? How do we
answer the call: "follow me"? Primarily, we do so by imitating the love
of God made manifest in the life, the words, and most especially, the
suffering and death of Jesus. "Love one another as I have loved you." How
has Christ loved us? By laying down his life for us. If someone were to
ask us, "Are you living according to the demands of Christian morality?" I
think it would be foolish to say, "Yes," simply because we are not
conscious of having broken a commandment. Even if we are keeping the ten
commandments, we have yet to ask ourselves: are we keeping "His"
commandment?
Now, let me go back to our critique of the idea that a person can break a
commandment in order to fulfill the demands of "love" in a given
situation. I would like to raise a question. When people do evil in the
name of love, are we talking about "real love," that is, the love Christ
showed for us, and that we should show for one another? For example, when
people such as Jack Kevorkian "help people to die," should we allow such
actions to be dignified with the name of compassion (that is, love
exercised on behalf of the suffering)? I would say that killing out of
such so-called "compassion" has nothing to do with love. It is a false
love, a self-centeredness masquerading as love. True love is what we read
about in section 20. It is, as Mother Theresa says, "To love until it
hurts." This self-sacrificing love is a love that carries the cross, and
is strong enough to suffer for the beloved. True love says to the person
who is sick and dying, "You are not a burden. You repay me everything I
do for you with the joy of your presence, and the presence of Christ in
you. Your life is not useless. You are teaching me how to suffer with
faith and with love for Christ."
What do you think? Am I being to hard on people who want to show
compassion by "helping" the terminally ill to die?
VS>> 21. "Following Christ" is not an outward imitation, since it touches
man at the very depths of his being. Being a follower of Christ means
"becoming conformed to him" who became a servant even to giving himself on
the Cross (cf. Phil 2:5-8). Christ dwells by faith in the heart of the
believer (cf. Eph 3:17), and thus the disciple is conformed to the Lord.
This is the "effect of grace," of the active presence of the Holy Spirit
in us.
Having become one with Christ, the Christian "becomes a member of his
Body, which is the Church" (cf. 1 Cor 12:13,27). By the work of the
Spirit, Baptism radically configures the faithful to Christ in the Paschal
Mystery of death and resurrection; it "clothes him" in Christ (cf. Gal
3:27): "Let us rejoice and give thanks," exclaims Saint Augustine speaking
to the baptized, "for we have become not only Christians, but Christ
(...). Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ!".[28] Having died to
sin, those who are baptized receive new life (cf. Rom 6:3-11): alive for
God in Christ Jesus, they are called to walk by the Spirit and to manifest
the Spirit's fruits in their lives (cf. Gal 5:16-25). Sharing in the
"Eucharist," the sacrament of the New Covenant (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-29), is
the culmination of our assimilation to Christ, the source of "eternal
life" (cf. Jn 6:51-58), the source and power of that complete gift of
self, which Jesus--according to the testimony handed on by Paul--commands
us to commemorate in liturgy and in life: "As often as you eat this bread
and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor
11:26).
FP >> When we follow and imitate Christ, not only do we become LIKE him,
but in a mystical way, we BECOME HIM. In the words of St. Paul, "I live,
no longer I, but Christ lives in me" [Gal 2:20]. Or, to use another idea
of St. Augustine (that I cannot at present find) when we eat normal bread,
it is transformed into us. But when we receive the bread of the
Eucharist, it transforms us into Christ.
This process of becoming Christ is the work of God's grace in us. The
life of God, won for us by Christ on the cross, given in baptism, renewed
in holy communion, changes us, and makes Christ live and act in and
through us.
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