Grateful Discipleship: Self-Gift

The terms Self-gift and self-giving help us understand Christ's love, also known as Christian charity, which Jesus explained during the Last Supper. He gave us the new commandment to love one another as he has loved us; he also explained what he meant by the word love: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). Self-giving is another way to say laying down one's life for another. We should be mindful of this when we consider that Jesus taught us that the whole Law could be summarized in the double commandment of loving God and loving our neighbor. 

The term self-gift is not a discovery of some new element of the faith, but it is an enrichment of our understanding of love which is the foundational element we have always known about. The mutual self-giving of the Trinity is the origin of all love. Pope Benedict XVI asserts that, "God is a perfect communion of love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."  The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and the Son. The unity of love does not dissolve the Persons but preserves the distinction in uniqueness and brings the perfection of love.  

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." (John. 3:16). Indeed, the Son came into the world visibly when He was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ultimately bringing the gift of saving us by dying on the Cross. Due to his love, the Son accepts suffering and death for our sake. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8). Due to his humanity, Jesus participates in our human experiences. The one who is like us “in all things but sin” suffers as we do, so God enters into human suffering. Now, man is not alone in suffering, but God's love is always with us uplifting and comforting because He is our fellow sufferer.  

The love of Christ and his self-gift did not end on the Cross, but he continues to give himself as a gift in the sacraments. The sacrament of the Eucharist helps us rediscover Christ's love and his voluntary gift of self. The Eucharist, which is the gift of Christ, invites us to make a gift of self, self-sacrifice for others, which means we seek the good of the other before ourselves. It is an act of self-giving that contributes to fulfilling our being. Being responsible, sensitive, cheerful, and hospitable to each other's needs helps us understand how to love one another as Christ loves us! 

Our Lord's command to us is to "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19). Because of our relationship with the God, Saint Paul says "we are therefore ambassadors" who must share the message "be reconciled to God" (2 Co 5:20). We are all called to mirror God's goodness and love through imitating his self-gift. All believers are invited to take Christ's commandments seriously by giving ourselves to one another. In so doing, we discover we are imitating our self-giving God. 

We should also be mindful that everything we have received is a gift, and we are supposed to use our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to help others, the church, and the world. When we live a life of total self-giving, we act according to God's wise and loving plan. I invite all of us to reflect on how we can embrace this way of life, self-giving, more fully as we continue our journey into the Grateful Discipleship Program.