Today we consider the virtue of “charity.” As we are told concerning this virtue from Saint Josemaria Escriva: “Charity is not something we ourselves build up. It invades us along with God's grace, 'because he has loved us first'.”
Therefore, at the heart of charity is love. Our English word “charity” comes to us from the Latin word “caritas.” Caritas means to love. This is not just any type of love, but a very deep and intense form of love. This love is most perfectly seen in the Most Holy Trinity where God’s love is so perfect that it is mutual and flowing over.
When a couple is preparing to enter into marriage I always ask them why they are getting married. The answer that I expect is because we love each other, but what does it mean to love each other? For many this love goes no deeper then existing at face value and thus when life gets difficult it becomes so easy to move on from it and to attach ourself onto to something else.
At the heart of charity is sacrifice. If we look to the cross we will see Christ’s ultimate sacrifice where He pours Himself out entirely out of love for us. In the words of the Marriage Exhortation: “And so not knowing what is before you, you take each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death. Truly, then, these words are most serious. It is a beautiful tribute to your undoubted faith in each other, that recognizing their full import, you are, nevertheless, so willing and ready to pronounce them. And because these words involve such solemn obligations, it is most fitting that you rest the security of your wedded life upon the great principle of self-sacrifice.” “Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome. Only love can make it easy, and perfect love can make it a joy. We are willing to give in proportion as we love. And when love is perfect, the sacrifice is complete. God so loved the world that he gave His only-begotten Son, and the Son so loved us that He gave Himself for our salvation.”
From all of this we can see the true meaning of marriage, love, and charity. If we want to grow in our ability to love we will come to embrace the cross during all the difficult moments of our life. At the sight of the cross the easy option is always to run from its grasp, but we should learn to move towards it. The opposite of charity is greed and thus we want nothing to do with sacrifice and instead only desire to please ourself and our needs. If everything is all about us and others meeting our desires love will never be found because love is to lay down our life for another as Christ laid down His life for us upon the cross.
As we head away from here may we find ways to embrace the cross. When something irks us let us embrace it with the spirit of charity. When we have been wronged let us embrace it with the spirit of charity. When someone is in need let us come to embrace it with a spirit of charity. In the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva: “Selfish. Always looking after yourself You seem incapable of feeling the fraternity of Christ. In those around you, you do not see brothers: you see stepping stones. I can foresee your complete failure. And when you have fallen, you will want others to treat you with the charity you are not willing to show towards them.”
Through the cross let us grow in the virtue of charity.
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