A reflection
by AJ Wagner, President of Marianist Lay Network of North America (MLNNA)
When Ashley Kessler, a member of the Embers Community, says
to her mother, "I love you," her mom always responds, "I love you more!"
In his first encyclical, Deus
Caritas, Pope Benedict XVI said:
His death on the Cross is the
culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in
order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form. By
contemplating the pierced side of Christ, we can understand the starting-point
of this Encyclical Letter: "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8). It is there that
this truth can be contemplated. It is from there that our definition of love
must begin. In this contemplation the Christian discovers the path along which
his life and love must move.
When we say "I love you," to
God by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty and clothing the naked,
the crucifix stands as God's response, "I love you more!"
