EXCELLENT ADVICE OF ST. PAUL FOR AN ECSTATIC SUPERHUMAN LIFE
In my opinion, St. Paul makes the strongest, most compelling and most wonderful appeal which was ever made to lead us all to the ecstasy and rapture of life and activity. Listen, Theotimus, I pray you, be attentive. Weigh the power and effectiveness of the burning heavenly words of the Apostle. He was all enraptured and taken up by the love of his Master.
Then he speaks about himself. It is equally applicable to each one of us. The love of Jesus Christ, he says, compels us (2 Cor 5:14). Yes, Theotimus, nothing compels the human heart so much as love. If one knows to be loved, by whomsoever it is, one is urged to return love. If it is a common man who is loved by a great king, how much more is he compelled to do so? And now we know that Jesus Christ, true God, eternal, all powerful, has loved us to such an extent as to will to suffer for us death and the death of the cross (Ph 2:8). O my dear Theotimus, is our heart not under pressure and do we not feel pressed hard by its force? Does it not compel us to show our love by a compelling love and an intensity as violent38 as it is all lovable and affectionate?
How does this divine Lover impel us? The love of Christ compels us, says the Apostle. We are convinced of this. What does it mean: We are convinced of this? This phrase means that the love of the Saviour compels us especially when we think, consider, weigh, meditate and be attentive to the conclusion of faith. But what is the solution? See, Theotimus, I pray, how he goes on driving home and imprinting this concept in our hearts: If one has died for all, then all have died. And Jesus Christ has died for all (2 Cor 5:14-15). It is indeed true. If one Jesus Christ has died for all then all, have died in the person of this unique Saviour who died for them. His death should be attributed to them since it was suffered for them and in view of them.
What does follows from it? In my opinion, I hear this apostle St. Paul thundering and exclaiming to the ears of our understanding: “It follows then, O Christian people, this is what Jesus Christ has desired from us in dying for us. What has he desired except that we should become like him? Hence, the apostle says: And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them (2 Cor 5:15). True God, Theotimus, how important is this conclusion in what concerns love! Jesus Christ has died for us. He has given his life through his death. We are alive only because he died and he died for us, on behalf of us and in us. Our life, therefore, is no longer ours but belongs to the one who gained it for us by his death. We should, then, live no longer for ourselves but to him: not in ourselves, but in him; not for ourselves but for him.
A little girl in the island of Sestos had reared a small eagle. She took care of it with such tender concern which children are accustomed to in such tasks. The eagle grew up and began to fly little by little. It began hunting small birds according to its natural instinct. As it became stronger it swooped down on wild animals. It never failed to faithfully bring its prey to its dear little mistress, as if to show gratitude for the food it had received from her. Now it happened that one day that little girl died while the poor eagle was on chase. According to the customs of that time and of that country, her body was laid on a funeral pyre in public to be cremated. When the flames of fire began to rise, the eagle came over with a flapping of wings. It saw this sudden unexpected sad sight. Overcame by grief it loosened its claws, dropped the prey, came and cast itself over its poor beloved mistress. It covered her body with its wings as if to protect her from fire or to embrace her out of pity. It remained determined and still dying and courageously burning to death with her. The intensity of its affection could not give way to the burning flames of fire. Thus, so to say, it became a victim and holocaust of its courageous and wonderful love, as its mistress was of death and the flames.
Ah, Theotimus, what inspiration does this eagle give us! Our Saviour has nourished us from our early childhood. Thus he has formed and held us like an affectionate nurse in the arms of his divine providence from the moment of our conception: For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mothers womb (Ps 139:13). He has made us his own by baptism.[1] He has nourished our heart and our body by a love surpassing our understanding. To gain life for us he has suffered death. He has fed us with his own flesh and his own blood. What more can be done? The only conclusion that we have to draw, my dear Theotimus, is that those who live should not live for themselves but for the one who has died for them (2 cor 5:15). In other words we are to consecrate to the divine love [manifested] in the death of our Saviour all the moments of our life. We are to direct to his glory all our prayer, all our victories, all our works, all our activities, all our thoughts and all our emotions of love.
Let us contemplate, Theotimus, the divine Redeemer stretched on the cross, as on his funeral pyre of honour, where he dies of love for us. But it is a love more painful than death itself or a death more affectionate, tender than love itself. Well, should we not cast ourselves in spirit upon him to die on the cross with him who for love of us wanted so much to die for us? I will hold on to him, we ought to say, if we have the generosity of the eagle and will never let him go (Song 3:4). I will die with him and burn within the flames of his love. One same love shall consume this divine Creator and his little creature. My Jesus is all mine and I am all his (Song 2:16). I will live and die on his bosom. Neither death nor life will ever separate me from him (Rom 8: 38-39).
Such then is the ecstasy of love when we do not live according to our reason and human tendencies. But we live above them following the inspiration and impulses of the divine Saviour of our souls.
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[1] Some are surprised that there is not much teaching on the sacraments in the TLG, except on the Eucharist. The TLG was not meant to be a manual on the sacraments. All the same there are numerous instances when the Saint refers to the teaching of the church on sacraments. See Pleiade, P. 1746 Ref 2 for P.689; See also, St. Francis de Sales and the Sacraments, Ed. Antony Kolencherry, Bangalore: SFS Publications, 1983 (Studies In Salesian Spirituality, No.2)