We need once more to take up the word of God and to realize, in doing so, that our best response to the love of Christ’s heart is to love our brothers and sisters. There is no greater way for us to return love for love. The Scriptures make this patently clear: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (Gal 5:14). “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death” (1 Jn 3:14). “Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen” (1 Jn 4:20).
Love for our brothers and sisters is not simply the fruit of our own efforts; it demands the transformation of our selfish hearts. This realization gave rise to the oft-repeated prayer: “Jesus, make our hearts more like your own”. Saint Paul, for his part, urged his hearers to pray not for the strength to do good works, but “to have the same mind among you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5).
We need to remember that in the Roman Empire many of the poor, foreigners and others who lived on the fringes of society met with respect, affection and care from Christians. This explains why the apostate emperor Julian, in one of his letters, acknowledged that one reason why Christians were respected and imitated was the assistance they gave the poor and strangers, who were ordinarily ignored and treated with contempt. For Julian, it was intolerable that the Christians whom he despised, “in addition to feeding their own, also feed our poor and needy, who receive no help from us”. 166IULIANUS IMP., Ep. XLIX ad Arsacium Pontificem Galatiae, Mainz, 1828, 90-91. The emperor thus insisted on the need to create charitable institutions to compete with those of the Christians and thus gain the respect of society: “There should be instituted in each city many accommodations so that the immigrants may enjoy our philanthropy… and make the Greeks accustomed to such works of generosity”. 167Ibid. Julian did not achieve his objective, no doubt because underlying those works there was nothing comparable to the Christian charity that respected the unique dignity of each person.
By associating with the lowest ranks of society (cf. Mt 25:31-46), “Jesus brought the great novelty of recognizing the dignity of every person, especially those who were considered ‘unworthy’. This new principle in human history – which emphasizes that individuals are even more ‘worthy’ of our respect and love when they are weak, scorned, or suffering, even to the point of losing the human ‘figure’ – has changed the face of the world. It has given life to institutions that take care of those who find themselves in disadvantaged conditions, such as abandoned infants, orphans, the elderly who are left without assistance, the mentally ill, people with incurable diseases or severe deformities, and those living on the streets”. 168DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Declaration Dignitas Infinita (2 April 2024), 19: L’Osservatore Romano, 8 April 2024.
In contemplating the pierced heart of the Lord, who “took our infirmities and bore our diseases” ( Mt 8:17), we too are inspired to be more attentive to the sufferings and needs of others, and confirmed in our efforts to share in his work of liberation as instruments for the spread of his love. 169Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Encyclical “Haurietis Aquas” (15 May 2006): AAS 98 (2006), 461. As we meditate on Christ’s self-offering for the sake of all, we are naturally led to ask why we too should not be ready to give our lives for others: “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and that we ought to lay down our lives for one another” ( 1 Jn 3:16).