No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friend

It is the greatest paradox in the world. No one can have greater love than to lay down their life for their friend. The writer of John’s gospel is talking about Jesus and about what it means to follow him. John’s gospel is written some 70 years after Jesus death – the very end of the first century or the beginning of the second century. Scholars debate these things. Evidence in the text suggest that the community for whom this gospel was written had their own internal problems including not insignificant persecution from their contemporaries for continuing to follow Jesus Christ and claim him as the Saviour, the light of the world, the bread of life, the living water, (all of these are terms from the gospel of John). Despite opposition they are urged to remain faithful to him and reminded that just as he could not be held by death so they will not be held down by persecution but will bear lasting fruit through love and faithfulness.

The story of the Johannine community continues. I was reading recently about the anniversary of the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero – do you remember him? He was the Archbishop of Al Salvador during the scandalous internal war of the late 70’s and 80’s which the UN truth commission later descried as genocide. Oscar Romero gave his last homily on 24 March. Moments before a sharpshooter felled him, reflecting on scripture, he said, “One must not love oneself so much, as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us, and those that fend off danger will lose their lives.” He was talking in a country in which many of the poor who resisted control of the military had been killed.

The surprising thing about Romero was that the role of supporter of the poor was not predicted of him. Renny Golden writes: “He was predictable, an orthodox, pious bookworm who was known to criticize the progressive liberation theology clergy so aligned with the impoverished farmers seeking land reform. But an event would take place within three weeks of his election that would transform the ascetic and timid Romero.

The new archbishop’s first priest, Rutilio Grande, was ambushed and killed along with two parishioners. Grande was a target because he defended the peasant’s rights to organize farm cooperatives. He said that the dogs of the big landowners ate better food than the campesino children whose fathers worked their fields.

The night Romero drove out of the capitol to Paisnal to view Grande’s body and the old man and seven year old who were killed with him, marked his change. In a packed country church Romero encountered the silent endurance of peasants who were facing rising terror. Their eyes asked the question only he could answer: Will you stand with us as Rutilio did? Romero’s “yes” was in deeds. The peasants had asked for a good shepherd and that night they received one.”

Lay down your life for your friends. Will we be called to be Oscar Romeros? Who knows? – he didn’t believe so. What would giving our lives for our friends mean? The gospel calls us to love of God and neighbour in our totality. We are called to love in word, action and thought. We are called to be generous not just in what we do but in our attitude towards those who are different from us, those who are poor, those who are lost, those who are vulnerable. A Christian is called to see Christ in these little ones. It is only when our hearts and minds have been converted that we will have the courage to speak. Oscar Romero may have been a surprise to his fellow Bishops but God had been preparing his heart and mind for many years. Let’s pray that ours will be shaped by God’s word so that when the time comes we will speak out and put our life on the line for the love of neighbour.

By Brendan Reed