How do we build a “civilization of love”? How do we defeat the culture of death? How do we confront hatred, neglect, and individualism as Christians?
As utopian as it may sound, we build a “civilization of love” by loving one another constantly and intensely as St. Peter says:
“Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a (pure) heart.”(1 Peter 1:22)
This blog is dedicated to encourage readers to help in small ways to create a “civilization of love” by promoting solidarity among the members of the Mystical Body of Christ. It is through this solidarity that we realize our participation in the infinite Trinitarian love to which we have entered through our Lord Jesus Christ. If we truly participate in this constant giving and receiving of love within the Trinity, we are moved to empty ourselves and to move away from the “I” and to recognize “the other” instead.
St. Katharine Marie Drexel explains that this emptying of one’s self should be a logical consequence of our belief in the Eucharist: “[o]urs is the spirit of the Eucharist:the total gift of self.” And it is in the Eucharist, the source of unity in the Church, where we recognize the living Christ, God among us, and when we are sent forth after the sacrifice of the Mass, we are to recognize that same God, who we have received in our bodies and souls, in our neighbors (Mt 25). This is how we bring the love of Christ to the world. This is how we build the “civilization of love.”
This blog will focus on small ways in which we can “give ourselves” according to our state of life and in this way express this solidarity and love for our brothers and sisters who are near and far. These small ways can be:
- Penance
- Mortification
- Prayer
- Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
- Living simply
- Voluntary poverty
- Awareness
- Living Intentionally
- Work
Through these small daily practices, we “connect” with our brothers and sisters: we learn about them, we walk with them, we feel for them, we understand them, we love them… and we unite our voices with theirs in praise to our heavenly Father and together we build the “civilization of love.”
“Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.”
– St. Therese of Lisieux
