Introduction

Introduction

by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Jesus deserves our love because of the love
He has shown us in His Passion

Perfect sanctity (Perfection) consists in loving Jesus Christ, our God, our sovereign good, and our Redeemer. Whoever loves Me, says Jesus Christ, is loved by My Father:

"For the Father Himself loveth you, because you have loved Me" - John 16:27.

Some people make perfection consist in an austere life; others in prayer; others in frequenting the Sacraments; others in almsgiving. But they deceive themselves: Perfect sanctity consists in loving God with our whole heart. After recommending Mercy, Humility, Forgiveness, and other Virtues, Saint Paul writes: "But above all these things have charity (love), which is the bond of perfection" - Colossians 3:14. This is why Saint Augustine said: "Love God and do what you will". And he explains that those who love God are taught by that same love never to do anything that will displease Him.

Almighty God knew that we would be won by kindness, so He determined to lavish His gifts upon us. He gave us souls created in His own image, with memory, understanding and will, as well as bodies with their senses. He created Heaven and Earth for us, yes, everything that exists, out of love for us. He brought into being the firmament , the stars and planets, the seas and rivers, the mountains and plains, the fruits of the earth and a countless variety of animals - all these useful things - that we might love Him in gratitude for so many admirable gifts.

But God was not satisfied with giving us so many beautiful things. The eternal Father did not hesitate to give us even His only-begotten Son:

"For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son" - John 3:16

And the Son, out of His love, has given Himself wholly to us. Saint Paul speaks of "the Son of God, Who loved me, and delivered Himself for me" - Galatians 2:20.

And what is more astonishing is that He could very well have saved us without dying and without suffering at all.

"He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross" - Philippians 2:8

And why did He choose to die? To show us how much He loved us. "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness" - Ephesians 5:2.

Now, in order to arrive at a perfect love for Jesus Christ - in return for His astonishing love for us - we must adopt certain means. One of these is devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. Through meditation on His suffering and death we receive hope for pardon for our sins, courage against temptation, and confidence in the Lord's promise of eternal life. It has been most aptly said that those who do not become inflamed with the love of God, by looking on Jesus dead upon the Cross, will never love at all.

Jesus deserves our love because of the love
He has shown us by His gift of the Eucharist

Our loving Redeemer, knowing that His death was approaching, desired to leave us the greatest possible mark of His love; the gift of the Eucharist.

Saint Bernardine of Siena remarks that we remember more tenderly and appreciate more fully the signs of love shown to us in the hour of death. Hence, it is the custom that friends, when about to die, leave to those persons, whom they have loved, some gift, such as a garment or a ring, as a memorial of their affection. And what did Jesus leave us as a memorial of His love? Not just a garment or a ring, but His entire self - body and blood, soul and divinity.

"The Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: 'Take ye, and eat: this is My body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of Me'. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying: 'This chalice is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me'. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until He come" - 1Corinthians 11:23-26. Not content with being prepared to give His life for us, in an excess of love, He gives us His own body for our food.

Jesus Christ therefore exhorts us to receive Him frequently in Holy Communion. He even entices us with the promise of Paradise. In John 6:54 He says that those who feed on His flesh and drink His blood have eternal life and He will raise them up on the last day.

And why does Jesus Christ desire so strongly that we receive Him in Holy Communion? Saint Denis answers that love always sighs after and tends to union. Friends who really love each other would like to be so united as to become one person. And this is what the infinite love of God for us has done: He gives Himself to us, whole and entire, under the appearance of bread and wine.

We must, then, be convinced that there is absolutely nothing that gives more pleasure to Jesus Christ than frequent reception of Communion on our part. But, of course, we must do so with dispositions suitable to the great guest whom we receive into our hearts. Our dispositions should be suitable, not necessarily worthy; for if worthy were necessary, who would ever communicate? Another God would alone be worthy to receive God. By suitable is meant such dispositions as become a miserable creature, clothed with the unhappy flesh of Adam. [Note Bene: These dispositions, according to present Papal decrees, are the state of grace and a right and devout intention.]

Holy Communion is that great remedy which frees us from venial sins and preserves us from mortal sins. By means of this Sacrament we are moved to make acts of love, by which venial sins are forgiven. And we are preserved from mortal sins because Communion increases grace which will protect us from great faults. Innocent III put it this way: "Jesus Christ delivered us from the power of sin by His Passion, but by the Eucharist He delivers us from the power of sinning".

The Sacrament of the Eucharist inflames us with divine love. "God is charity (love)" - 1John 4:8. Still there are some who will say that the very reason they do not receive Communion frequently is because they are so cold in the love of God. But when we are physically cold we do not willingly keep away from the fire. So too, if we really desire to love Jesus Christ, we should approach Him frequently in this Sacrament. The more we feel sick, the greater the need we have of a physician. Saint Francis de Sales declares: "Two sorts of persons ought to go frequently to Communion: the perfect to remain so, and the imperfect in order to become perfect".

Why we should have supreme confidence
in the love that Jesus Christ has shown us

Like David, who placed all his hope of salvation in his future Redeemer (Into Thy hands I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth - Psalm 30.6), we ought to place our confidence in Jesus Christ, Who has already accomplished the work of Redemption.

If we have great reason to fear everlasting death on account of our sins against God, we have far greater reason to hope for everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ, which merits are infinitely more instrumental in providing salvation than our sins are for causing damnation.

"Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His bruises we are healed" - Isaiah 53:4-5.  

It is true that we shall have to render a rigorous account to the Eternal Judge of all our sins. But who is to be our Judge?

"For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son" - John 5:22.

So we have no reason to fear, as long as we detest our sins. And if we still fear because of temptations coming from the World, our flesh, and the Devil, we should "Look on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, Who having joy set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God" - Hebrews 12:2. In the past we fell into sin because we left-off looking at the wounds and pains endured by our Redeemer, and so did not have recourse to Him for help. But, if in the future, we set before our eyes all He has suffered for love of us, and how He stands ever ready to help us if we ask, it is certain that we shall not be conquered by our enemies. What two great mysteries of hope and love for us are the Passion of Jesus Christ and the Sacrament of the Altar. This is why we have every reason to be confident that He will give us the graces necessary for our salvation.

"Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace: that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid" - Hebrews 4:16. The throne of grace is the Cross on which Jesus sits to dispense graces and mercy to all who come to Him. Unfrightened by the sight of our miseries, we embrace the Cross of Christ in all confidence.

Our Redeemer encourages us to hope for every favor and every grace through His merits. And He teaches us the way to obtain all we want:

"Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in My name, He will give it to you" - John 16:23.

The Father cannot refuse when He has given us His only begotten Son, Whom He loves as Himself. "He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not also, with Him, given us all things?" - Romans 8:32.

If we believe that the Eternal Father has given us His Son, Who died on the Cross to redeem us, we must also believe that He will give us everything else that is infinitely less than His Son. And we cannot think that Jesus Christ is forgetful of us since He has left us, as the greatest memorial and pledge of His Love, Himself in the Sacrament of the Altar.

How much we are obligated to love Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ, as God, has a right to all our love; but because He has proven His love for us so clearly, He wants us to love Him freely, in gratitude for everything He has done and suffered for us. He has loved us most generously, so that we might love Him generously in return. The first commandment He gave us, therefore is: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind" - Matthew 22:37.

Saint Paul says that "Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law" - Romans 13:10. Instead of fulfillment, the Greek text employs the phrase "embracing the law"; love embraces the whole law. Who, indeed, when they see their God crucified for their love, can refuse to love Him? Those thorns, those nails, that Cross, those wounds all call us and prod us to love Him Who has loved us so much.

One Heart is too small to love a God Who is so much in love with us. In order to repay the love of Jesus Christ, another God would have to die for His love. Saint Paul tells us clearly: "And Christ died for all; that they also who live, may not now live to themselves, but unto Him Who died for them, and rose again" - 2Corinthians 5:15.

Jesus Christ desires that we continually recall His Passion. How it must sadden Him that we are so unmindful of it. If we were to endure contempt, injury, and imprisonment for one of our friends, how painful it would be if that friend never gave it a thought again. On the other hand, how grateful we would be if this friend constantly spoke of it with the warmest gratitude and thanked us often. So it is pleasing to Jesus Christ when we remember with gratitude and love the sorrows and death that He endured for us.

The Old Testament Prophets yearned for Jesus Christ even before He came into the world. How much more should we yearn to love Him now that He has actually come here on Earth - suffering and even dying on the Cross out of love for us.

This, too, is why He instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and told us that as often as we were nourished with His most sacred body, we should remember His death. With reason, then, the Church reminds us of this wonderful sacrament when she sings: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received (and) the memory of His Passion is renewed".

So we can see how pleasing to Jesus Christ are those who meditate frequently on His Passion. By doing this they keep in grateful memory all that He suffered for us and they continue to grow in love for Him.

How can we refuse to love this God Who has done so much to be loved by us? Before the Incarnation we might have doubted whether God's love for us was real. But after the advent of the Son of God, and after His death for our love, how can we possibly doubt His love?

To redeem us, Jesus used every manner of means to make us love Him. If He had deemed that death alone was sufficient for our salvation, it would have been enough for Him to have been killed by Herod with the other children. But no, He chose instead to lead a life of suffering for thirty-three years before He died. During that time He appeared as a poor Child born in a stable, then as a young Boy helping in the workshop, and finally as an Adult 'criminal' executed on a Cross. But before He actually died, He experienced numerous sufferings, each of which were meant to draw us closer to Him.

First, we see Him agonizing in the Garden, bathed from head-to-foot in a sweat of blood. Afterward, we see Him in the court of Pilate, torn with the scourges and treated as a mock-king, with a crown of thorns on His head. Then, we see Him dragged publicly through the streets to His death. And finally, we see Him on Calvary, hanging from the Cross by three iron nails.

Does He then deserve our love or not, this God Who has chosen to endure these sufferings and to use so many means to win our love.

A precious thing is love. It is the queen of all virtues; it unites us with God. And Sacred Scripture assures us that God loves whoever loves Him. Those who abide in love, abide in God and God in them ("God is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him" - 1John 4:4:16). Love, moreover, gives us the strength to do and to suffer everything for God.

Here is what Saint John Chrysostom says are the effects of divine love in those whom it possesses:

When the love of God has taken possession of beloved souls, it produces an unquenchable desire to work for the Beloved. No matter how great the work they do, or how long their service, all seems nothing in their eyes, and they suffer because they are doing so little for God. They would be happy if they were allowed to die and consume themselves for Him. And so they consider themselves unprofitable servants in everything they do, because love teaches them how much God deserves and they see in this radiant light all the defects of their actions and find them reason for confusion and pain. They are well aware of how poor all their efforts when compared to those of so great a God.

Saint Francis de Sales also tells us:

All holiness consists in loving God with our whole heart, because all other virtues, without love, are a mere heap-of-stones. And if we do not completely enjoy this holy love, the fault lies with us because we have not, once and for all, made the decision to give ourselves completely to God.

"But one thing is necessary" - Luke 10:42. It is not necessary to be rich in this world, to gain the respect of others, to lead a life of comfort, to relish honors, or to have a reputation for knowledge. It is only necessary to love God and to do His will. This is the only reason He creates us and preserves us in life, and this is the only way we can merit Heaven.

Our only concern, then, should be to grow in a true love of Jesus Christ, which masters of the spiritual life have described in the following manner:

Love is fearful; its only fear is of displeasing God.

Love is generous; trusting in God, it is never disheartened, even when facing tremendous odds that seem to hinder God's glory.

Love is strong; it subdues the lower appetites, even in the midst of the most violent temptations and the darkest desolations.

Love is obedient; it immediately carries out the divine will.

Love is pure; it loves God alone and for the sole reason that He deserves to be loved.

Love is ardent; it wants to inflame the whole world with divine love.

Love is inebriating; it transports persons outside of themselves so that they become completely concerned with loving God.

Love is unitive; it blends the will of the creature with the will of the Creator.

Love is desirous; it fills persons with yearnings to unite themselves perfectly with God so that they can love Him with all their strength.

But no one teaches us so well the real practice of Charity as the great preacher of Charity, Saint Paul. In his first Epistle to the Corinthians he tells us:

"If I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not Charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not Charity, it profiteth me nothing" - 1Corinthians 13:2-3.

Then Saint Paul shows us the signs of true Charity and at the same time, teaches us the practice of those virtues, which are the daughters of Charity:

"Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things" - 1Corinthians 13:4-7.

In the following Chapters we will consider the holy practice of Charity so that we may see whether the love of Jesus Christ really possesses us. We will strive to find out what virtues we should practice in order to continue making progress in this holy love.