Living a Christian life is not an easy task. Deciding to provide a witness for the image of a Christian requires that we intimately know the One we represent. To help us understand what is asked of us, let us turn to “Caritas in Veritate,” the encyclical letter by the late Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Benedict states “Each person finds his good by adherence to God’s plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth, he becomes free.” The Greek version of the Gospel account of Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane states Jesus was up most of the night praying to understand God’s will for him. He embraced the plan God had for him and he fulfilled it through the grace given to him in his most urgent hour.

God did not abandon Jesus, but stayed with him completely, so that Jesus was able to proclaim in his dying words from the cross the opening line of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” The psalm ends with the proclamation: “The generations to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.”

Pope Benedict continues as he writes: “All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocations planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person.”

Jesus’ self-giving on the cross is our invitation as well, as his agents in this fallen world, to follow the way of love. Pope Benedict writes that, “Love is God’s greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.”

How do we understand this? When we attend Mass, we are participating in the eucharistic meal, which is a communion of Christians sharing in the body and blood of Christ to fortify us for our journey in gratitude. We collectively express our appreciation for Jesus’ self-giving, free choice to embrace the cross and show us how to follow the will of God in love.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. Learn more at her website ifhwb.com.

ACTION CHALLENGE

• Engage in spiritual activities that will deepen your faith. Invite the Holy Spirit into your heart and mind to help you respond to Jesus’ invitation to be his witness in a broken world.
• Become a living witness to a culture where many have abandoned the cross and truth of Christ.