God
is love.
In three brief
words, St. John summarized a lifetime of pondering what
he had seen and heard
during the three years he lived with the Incarnate Son of God.
God
is love
—
but not just any kind
of love. St. Jerome highlighted this distinction when
translating St.
John's words from Greek into Latin..
Deus caritas est.
God is
CHARITY
—precious
love, costly love, selfless love, infinitely giving love.
If
CHARITY
is a virtue so great that many theologians consider it THE virtue, how
can we count it among the "little"
virtues? Because charity, like God, has a way of making
itself small. Charity "fits" itself
into every situation. It ennobles and enhances and elevates
even the smallest human action. It
complements and completes every human virtue. When charity "teams up"
with any other virtue, great things happen.
COURAGE
without charity, for example, can run the risk of being little more than
bravado or recklessness. Charity
anchors courage in the greater good, the greater giving,
helping us not only to
face
danger and difficulty without fear, but
also to endure them with,
in
and for Christ.
Without charity,
COURTESY
can be disintegrated into superficial politeness, mere flattery or even
facetiousness. Twinned with charity, courtesy becomes a reflection of
the divine consideration which surrounds and accompanies all of creation.
Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, was a Man of
COURAGE.
Even His enemies acknowledged His courage in the face of opposition,
misunderstanding and ill treatment. Jesus went bravely forward to His
Passion and death because He
loved
the Father. Not even death itself could deflect Him for obediently
fulfilling the will of His Father for the salvation of the world.
Jesus,
God-in-the-flesh, was likewise a Man of exquisite
COURTESY.
Our Lord
was
such a
gentleman!
a priest once
exclaimed, pointing out some of the Gospel passage
where Jesus' courtesy
shines forth, The rudeness, coarseness and even cruelty of His opponents
never dampened our Lord's celestial civility, all the more amazing because
it was the
response of One who was the Creator and Savior of the fallen creatures who
were insulting Him.
It can take a great deal of courage to be courteous. We think of that
pivotal moment in the conversion of St, Francis when he met the leper. It
was courage permeated by charity which enabled the future saint to leap the
chasm of human repugnance, and not merely to toss a coin into the leper's
outstretched hand, but to embrace and kiss the deformed man before him. There
are also times when courage must be tempered with courtesy. The meeting of
St, Francis with the Sultan is a good example. No doubt the Sultan was
impressed by Francis' courage in coming to meet him. But what opened his
heart to listen to his message was the courtesy which informed the saint's
proclamation of Christ. While the Sultan did not convert, it is probably
safe to say that he never forgot what Francis had expounded to him with such
engaging zeal. For, under-girding Francis' courteous and courageous
proclamation of Christ was Francis' Christ-like love for the Sultan, a man,
like himself, made in God's image and redeemed by Christ's Blood.
CHARITY — COURAGE —
COURTESY These three C's can transform us into
true mirrors of CHRIST, Himself the source and exemplar of redeeming love,
saving courage and that delicate grace of God which is courtesy.