“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt
10:39).
In
this Word of Life, two kinds of existence come into
relief: the earthly life that is built in this world,
and the supernatural life that is given by God through
Jesus, a life that does not end with death and that
no one can take away from us.
We
can, therefore, choose between two attitudes. One
is to be attached to our earthly life, considering
it as our only good. This attitude leads to thinking
only of ourselves, only of our own affairs, only of
our children, thereby sealing ourselves up within
a shell and affirming only our ego. This road inevitably
ends up in the emptiness of certain death. The other
choice, instead, is to believe that God has given
us a much more profound and authentic existence. This
gives us the courage to live in a manner that merits
this gift to the point of “losing” our
earthly life for that other life.
“Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it.”
When
Jesus said these words, he was thinking of martyrdom.
Like all Christians, we should be ready to follow
the Master and to remain faithful to the Gospel, to
lose our life, even to die a violent death, if necessary.
Then, with the grace of God, we will obtain the true
life. Jesus was the first one who “lost his
life,” and he regained it glorified. He warned
us, “Do not to be afraid of those who kill the
body but cannot kill the soul” (Mt 10:28). Today
he tells us:
“Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it.”
If
we read the Gospel carefully, we will see that Jesus
goes back to this thought six times. This shows how
important it is and how much Jesus values it.
But
for Jesus, the exhortation to lose one's life is not
only an invitation to martyrdom. It is a fundamental
law of Christian life.
We
must be ready to reject the temptation to set up our
own selves as the ideal of our lives; we have to give
up our selfishness. If we want to be authentic Christians,
we must put Christ at the center of our lives. What
does Christ want from us? Love for others. If this
becomes our lifestyle, we will have “lost”
our own lives and found eternal life.
And
not living for oneself certainly does not mean, as
some may think, to be laid back and passive. Indeed,
Christians need to be firmly committed and fully responsible.
“Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it.”
Even
in this life, it is possible to experience that by
giving of ourselves, by putting love into every action,
“life” grows within us. When we spend
our day at the service of others, when we transform
our work (which is perhaps monotonous and tedious)
into a gesture of love, we experience the joy of greater
fulfillment.
“Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life for my sake will find it.”
By
following Jesus' commandments, which all focus on
love, we will find after this brief life eternal life
as well.
Let
us remember what Jesus will say and do on the day
of judgment. To those on his right: “Come, you
that are blessed by my Father ... for I was hungry
and you gave me food ... I was … a stranger
and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me"
(Mt 25:34-36).
To
let us participate in the life that does not pass
away, Jesus will look at just one thing: if we loved
our neighbors. He will consider done to himself whatever
we did to them.
How
then should we live this Word of Life? How should
we “lose” our life even now in order to
find it? By preparing ourselves for that great and
decisive final examination that we were born for.
Let's
look around us and fill our day with acts of love.
Christ presents himself to us in our children, wife,
husband, people we work with and relax with and even
politicians. Let's do good to everyone. And let's
not forget those we hear about each day through friends
or through the media. Let's do something for everyone,
according to our means. And when we have exhausted
our means, we can still pray for our neighbor.
Loving
is what counts.