Charity is love for God and our neighbor. Charity recognizes that God is our Maker and the Lord of all Creation. As God has freely given us all that we have in this life, we freely offer everything we have back to Him: our time, our talents, and our treasure. St. Paul says that love is the greatest of the three theological virtues. (1 Corinthians: 13:13) But all three are intricately intertwined. Faith is the foundation for Christian life; hope sustains faith through the ups and downs of life; charity flows out of faith and hope, returning to God the love He has bestowed on us, and loving each other for God’s sake.
St. John the Evangelist was “the one whom Jesus
loved.” (John 13:23) From John’s Gospel and Epistles, we learn that love is an
action, not a feeling. Jesus said, “Love
one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) Jesus loved us most profoundly
in His death on the cross. If we love as
Jesus loves us, we must give our lives for each other. The couple who love
as Christ loves lay down their lives for each other through their actions each
day, when they give up their own desires in order to serve each other. They die to themselves to live for the other.
Couples who truly embrace this path find great joy in the sacrifices they make,
large and small, from the daily cooking, cleaning and wage-earning to the
ongoing care of a sick or disabled spouse.
Dear Lord, through the intercession of St. John the
Evangelist, please increase in this couple the virtue of Charity, that they
will love each other as You love them, and for Your sake, love their
neighbor. Please grant that this love
will manifest itself in many good works for the strengthening of Your
Kingdom. We also pray that their
children and grandchildren will be united in love with them throughout their
lives. Amen.
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