Christian irony
With horror, disgust and sadness we heard of the violence committed against four Missionaries of Charity and 12 other staff and volunteers at a hospice in Yemen because they were Christians.
What is so threatening about a lifestyle of joy and disinterested service that others desire to eliminate it? I think the real reason is that God’s pure light, shining in his disciples, is so brilliant that it blinds those who opt to live in darkness.
Pope Francis has insisted that the church should grow based on the attraction that emanates from its members. From the beginning, Jesus our Lord sent us forth to be witnesses of charity. He commissioned us to preach through lives of joyful service, or as the Holy Father said when speaking of the martyred sisters, to be “martyrs of charity”: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35)
Millions of women and men through 20 centuries and from all corners of the earth have learned to be happy losers. That is the eternal Christian paradox. To be a winner, to be the first, one must be the last and the servant of all. (see Mark 9:35)
Christian service is not a discipline acquired through basic, repetitive acts, but rather the joyful result of a loving experience. Feeling loved makes a person give of themselves without limits. The beloved rejoices upon contemplating the triumph of his or her loved one.
As Christians, all of us are called to be martyrs of charity — witnesses of love. That is why we have parents who give everything for their children, marriages which persevere despite all adversity, friends willing to perform heroic sacrifices and consecrated people ready to go to the ends of the earth in order to proclaim the name of their beloved with each beat of their hearts, with each word that falls from their lips, with every action of their existence, whether it be before the silence of the tabernacle or amidst the agitation of their challenging ministries.
Let us give thanks to God because he continues to send loving witnesses into our world. Surely the apparent triumph of the merciless assassins of those consecrated women and so many other disciples of Jesus will bring new fruits of justice and peace. We hope that the blood of those martyrs will make our souls fruitful and will help us grow in fortitude as we continue to fight using love to defeat the spirit of evil who makes us fall into indifference and passiveness.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus, who was nailed to the cross, is the martyr of charity par excellence. For love of us, he lost his earthly existence, and in that way he was able to proclaim himself the conqueror of death. By his loss, love made it possible for him to win for us a life that has no end.
Certainly, the Blessed Virgin Mary’s testimony of joy and loving docility was closely imitated by the consecration and service of those faithful sister-disciples. Without a doubt, Mary stood at the entrance of heaven ready to embrace them as they arrived, joining her voice to celestial choirs singing their praises, celebrating love’s victory in those happy losers.
May divine love also makes us happy losers.