At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love
- Fr Raphael Ma, CR
- Matthew 25: 31 - 46
A Resurrectionist Vocation Minute for November 26, Solemnity of Christ the King
At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.
The “Sayings of Light and Love” of St. John of the Cross, are a collection of proverbs – pithy, concise sayings to ponder over. One of the most famous ones is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1022, on the Particular Judgment.
“At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.”
At first, it sounds kind of like “all you need is love”, or some other version of “be nice.” But there is another half to St. John of the Cross’ saying. The full saying is:
“At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own ways of acting.”
It’s a call to recognize that in the end, the only thing that will prove to have really mattered in this life is how we have loved. It sounds easy, but how many of us actually know how to love? Or, as St. John of the Cross says, how many of us love according to our own ways – rather than how God desires to be loved? One way of looking at your vocation is to see it as your path to eternal life, in other words, how God is calling you to love in this life.
“…Under the pressure of apostolic activity, the Resurrectionist will maintain a unity in his work and spirituality. Christ lives and acts in him and he grows in Christ through his ministry. He loves people with the love of Christ and he is concerned for their spiritual welfare. The desire to bring each person to Christ vivifies his apostolate and makes him ready and capable of overcoming any obstacle and, if need be, of laying down his life for the salvation of all”