Who, of any of us, is willing to die for a complete stranger?

Newsroom (21/02/2023 08:30, Gaudium Press) Where do we find those who are willing to suffer for strangers, seemingly without gain or necessity, and yet are willing to give their lives for pure love of another?

Think of a king who dies after suffering many torments and dishonour at the hands of his slave; a slave who has done him no service, but rather has committed grave offenses against him; a slave who is now worthy of a very cruel death. And now imagine that the reason for this king’s death is out of pure love for the slave – something that is neither seen nor spoken of – and that his love is so great that it would astonish all who hear it, and those who hear of it would rightly announce to others – for many days or even for the rest of their lives – the goodness of this king. This kind of love would be so admirable, so new and so great that some, of weak virtue and poor judgment, would be scandalized, and would not see this act as it should be seen, instead saying that it was an exaggeration to say that the King, His Royal Majesty, filled with virtue, should give his precious life so that a bad slave might live, especially since the slave deserved death.

If we compare, then, such different extremes – the great king and the wicked slave – look and think now on how much Christ loved you. Walk according to the Heart of the Lord, and, even if you were to have the sharp sight of the eagle to use those eyes to look, still they would not be sufficient to see the resplendent and great love that that most holy soul, who gives everything, even his life, for another, possesses in such a high degree.

SAINT JOHN OF ÁVILA

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm