Radical Acts of Love, not Volumes of Speeches or Books on Love (Thursday, Week 29, Year 2)

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In his prayer for the Ephesians (cf. Eph. 3:14-21)), St Paul asks that the Ephesians may be ROOTED and GROUNDED (take note of the emphatic nature of these action words) in love that they may have power to comprehend (or understand) with all the saints what is the BREADTH and LENGTH and HEIGHT and DEPTH of the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God. In the gospel, this Christ, whose love St Paul beautifully described in the first reading, makes a very strong statement that he has come to cast fire on earth (cf. Luke 12:49-50). We may now ask, “What fire?” And which baptism is he talking about? The fire of love! The baptism of sacrifice! 

I am sure many of us have profusely read about love; severally heard about it; watched documentaries about it; and so on. But all these amount to nothing if love does not take flesh in us. Until we live it out, we cannot talk of being filled with the fullness of God, we cannot talk about having real and lasting happiness on earth and in heaven. There was a photo in circulation on WhatsApp years back about a starving and malnourished Sudanese girl in a crawling position with a vulture right behind her anxiously waiting to devour her carcass once she dies. According to an explanation note that accompanies the photo, it is said that the photo was taken by a man called Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist in 1993, who later won an award for that photo. Now, what was going on in that picture? The little girl was attempting, as she crawled, to reach the United Nations Feeding Centre but was weakened by starvation. Yes, this Carter celebrated his feat and award; and was severally featured on major news channels and networks all over the world. He was granted interviews here and there. 

One day, one of the millions of those who interviewed him asked him a very serious question, “What later happened to that child?” And he said, “I didn’t wait to find out after the photo-shoot as I heard a plane to catch.” And the person replied, “Then, there were actually two vultures on that day – one had a camera; the other was behind the little girl”. Kevin Carter’s constant thought about that question and statement from an interviewer made him depressed and he subsequently committed suicide on July 27, 1994. He would have helped to carry that girl to the UN’s Feeding Centre for that was her destination. But he chose to take pictures and talk about the need for the world to help those who are starving.

I always tell myself, “I must go beyond mere words about love. What concrete actions have I taken on the spot (no matter how little) to lessen the sufferings of others?” You see what Christ did for you and me. He saw the terrible state of humanity. He did not stay in heaven to endlessly argue and discuss the state of humanity. He came down; took our horrible state; and died for our sake. This is what St Paul is calling us to understand: to understand the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. He took the radical step of love and ultimate sacrifice for our sake. This is that fire that he has cast on earth. And many saints had their hearts ignited by this fire; that they even went beyond family and friendship considerations to give themselves entirely to the suffering portion of humanity. St Francis of Assisi’s father was against him because he chose to live radically for the sake of the poor; St Thomas Aquinas was initially rejected by his family because he chose to live radically as a Dominican in order to bear testimony to God’s love. St Clare of Assisi suffered the same. St Theresa of Calcutta was rejected by her religious family because she expressed her desire to be permitted to be with the poor and suffering Indians at the ghettoes and slums. If love hasn’t gone beyond mere words, the world can never be sufficiently set on fire by it. Actions, not words, are what can surely change the world for better.                    




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