5 January 2023
Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop
According to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, love consists in a mutual sharing of goods (# 231). He learned that from experience. Other people had to share with him first. As an infant, his mother shared her body with him. His family shared their house and food with him. His friends shared their play with him. His teachers shared their learning with him. His local priests shared God’s sacred things with him, giving him a share of the life of God the Son.
For St. Ignatius and for us, too, “the way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us.” Christ laid down his life for us, both by living and dying, so that we could obtain a share of that life. Christ could just as well have kept himself aloof in Heaven, enjoying its delights, which infinitely exceed any joy we can imagine. Instead, he laid his life down here on Earth for a few decades, so that we might join him forever in Heaven, so that where he is, we also may be.
What will we share with him in return? As St. Ignatius says, love consists in a mutual sharing of goods. What, then, do we have to offer? Thoughts, words and deeds. Think and say things that are loving, holy and true. Do deeds that are righteous, virtuous and honorable. In that way, give God a share of your own life. Lay down your life for Him in return.