“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6.21). This verse presents the reason and intention on our being and doing in life. The heart is the sign of love. For love we dare even to risk our own life to the extent of living and doing what we want. The passion is born of the heart. Our passion makes us spend the energies of our life. Our vocation as disciples and witnesses of Jesus Christ makes us to be committed from the heart, to be passionate for God in the passion for our brothers, especially, the neediest.
During his public ministry Jesus quoted the love for oneself as the model to love the neighbour, “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk 12: 31; cf. Lv 19: 18); but at the Last Supper, he places his love for the apostles as the foundation to love one another, “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15: 12). His new commandment is not a mere command, but our response to his love for us that will lead us to love others. His love for us is our personal experience discovering it is God who loved us first (1Jn 4:19) and that´s why we go out to share it with a strong conviction and enthusiasm. This sort of witnessing of his love is the zeal for the salvation of people.
For Fr. Claret experiencing God´s love means an encounter with this fire. This experience of the fire of love purifies and refines the person according to the demand of the lover. According to him our work for the salvation of the people means to be enthusiastic to share this experience of love and to witness what we have seen and heard (Mt 11: 4; 1Jn1: 3). Therefore he advises priests to have a heart burning with this sort of fire of love for an effective life of witness. Many times we feel discouraged and become lukewarm in our Christian commitment because of the failure to recognise God´s love in our life. When we are supposed to share the experience of God´s love, we are struck with the questions of where, when and how about this love experience. Jesus loves us in our own personal and family life, experiences of joys and struggles; it is from here we are called to know and to make Jesus known.
What is the reason behind my life and my missionary commitment? What do I search in my action or my apostolic work?