We all have a knowledge which comes from experience of what fidelity is – in friendship, in married life, in the working environment…
Fidelity expresses the position and passage of our relationships with those present in our lives and who mean something for us: someone who, where another is concerned, at the same time transcends and can enrich us as a person. Fidelity has to do with faith, already a fundamental element when humans live together, which implies before all else, the acceptance of the other as a person and then of their word and testimony, whose validity becomes indisputable, generating commitment and coherent conduct in us.
When Christians speak of faith and fidelity, we are referring above all to this Someone who is God, whose face and whose Word have been manifested to us in Jesus, the Son. With his presence, deeds and message, Jesus is the faithful witness (cf. Rev 1:5). Being Jesus’ disciples implies fidelity to his word and proposals, manifested in deeds: fidelity which is built in time, with the perseverance of whoever knows himself to be a disciple at all stages and crossroads of life.
The fundamental attitude of the disciple, conscious that this has not been his own conquest but is rather the grace and invitation of the Lord, can be nothing but humility and gratitude. Everything one manages to do – says Claret – is fruit of God’s love, the work of his grace and looks to manifest his glory. So the feelings and language of the disciple will be those of the Lord’s praises, with forgetfulness of self.
Lived in this way fidelity passes from being purely the fulfilment of a duty to acquiring the status of an act of love, a life of love.
It counts for a great deal that we ask ourselves if our life is built only on obligations or if it is sustained by choices inspired in faithful love, which can fill it with joy and make it into good news for others.