Page 47 - Demo
P. 47
each other, for I can love you with the heart of our celestial spouse%u201d. [215] Later, to MauriceBelli%u00e8re she wrote, %u201cHow I would like to make you understand the tenderness of the heart of Jesus,what he expects from you!%u201d [216]Integrity and Harmony200. Sisters and brothers, I propose that we develop this means of reparation, which is, in a word,to offer the heart of Christ a new possibility of spreading in this world the flames of his ardent andgracious love. While it remains true that reparation entails the desire to %u201crender compensation forthe injuries inflicted on uncreated Love, whether by negligence or grave offense%u201d, [217] the mostfitting way to do this is for our love to offer the Lord a possibility of spreading, in amends for allthose occasions when his love has been rejected or refused. This involves more than simply the%u201cconsolation%u201d of Christ of which we spoke in the previous chapter; it finds expression in acts offraternal love by which we heal the wounds of the Church and of the world. In this way, we offerthe healing power of the heart of Christ new ways of expressing itself.201. The sacrifices and sufferings required by these acts of love of neighbour unite us to thepassion of Christ. In this way, %u201cby that mystic crucifixion of which the Apostle speaks, we shallreceive the abundant fruits of its propitiation and expiation, for ourselves and for others%u201d. [218]Christ alone saves us by his offering on the cross; he alone redeems us, for %u201cthere is one God;there is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as aransom for all%u201d (1 Tim 2:5-6). The reparation that we offer is a freely accepted participation in hisredeeming love and his one sacrifice. We thus complete in our flesh %u201cwhat is lacking in Christ%u2019safflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church%u201d ( Col 1:24); and Christ himself prolongsthrough us the effects of his complete and loving self-oblation.202. Often, our sufferings have to do with our own wounded ego. The humility of the heart ofChrist points us towards the path of abasement. God chose to come to us in condescension andlittleness. The Old Testament had already shown us, with a variety of metaphors, a God whoenters into the heart of history and allows himself to be rejected by his people. Christ%u2019s love wasshown amid the daily life of his people, begging, as it were, for a response, as if asking permissionto manifest his glory. Yet %u201cperhaps only once did the Lord Jesus refer to his own heart, in his ownwords. And he stresses this sole feature: %u2018gentleness and lowliness%u2019, as if to say that only in thisway does he wish to win us to himself%u201d. [219] When he said, %u201cLearn from me, for I am gentle andhumble in heart%u201d ( Mt 11:29), he showed us that %u201cto make himself known, he needs our littleness,our self-abasement%u201d. [220]203. In what we have said, it is important to note several inseparable aspects. Acts of love ofneighbour, with the renunciation, self-denial, suffering and effort that they entail, can only be suchwhen they are nourished by Christ%u2019s own love. He enables us to love as he loved, and in this wayhe loves and serves others through us. He humbles himself to show his love through our actions,47